DaVita (NYSE:DVA) Sees Large Volume Increase After Strong Earnings

DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. Approximately 827,797 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 1% from the previous session’s volume of 816,789 shares.The stock last traded at $133.87 and had previously closed at $142.24.

The company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.43. DaVita had a return on equity of 66.59% and a net margin of 6.61%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.58 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DVA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of DaVita from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded DaVita from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. TheStreet raised DaVita from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group upped their target price on DaVita from $113.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of DaVita in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $133.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other DaVita news, CEO Javier Rodriguez sold 67,603 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.11, for a total value of $8,525,414.33. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 488,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,629,578.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider James O. Hearty sold 26,164 shares of DaVita stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.64, for a total transaction of $3,130,260.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 20,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,424,384.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Javier Rodriguez sold 67,603 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.11, for a total transaction of $8,525,414.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 488,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,629,578.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,540 shares of company stock worth $16,551,071 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DaVita

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of DaVita in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in DaVita in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. purchased a new stake in DaVita during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of DaVita in the fourth quarter worth $60,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of DaVita by 21.0% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.12% of the company’s stock.

DaVita Trading Down 5.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.65, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $11.79 billion, a PE ratio of 15.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.59.

DaVita Company Profile

DaVita Inc provides kidney dialysis services for patients suffering from chronic kidney failure in the United States. The company operates kidney dialysis centers and provides related lab services in outpatient dialysis centers. It also offers outpatient, hospital inpatient, and home-based hemodialysis services; operates clinical laboratories that provide routine laboratory tests for dialysis and other physician-prescribed laboratory tests for ESRD patients; and management and administrative services to outpatient dialysis centers.