StockNews.com Downgrades DaVita (NYSE:DVA) to Buy

DaVita (NYSE:DVA) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Monday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. TheStreet raised DaVita from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on DaVita from $113.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays lifted their price objective on DaVita from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on DaVita from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, DaVita currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.33.

DaVita Stock Performance

Shares of DVA stock opened at $137.79 on Monday. DaVita has a 1-year low of $71.51 and a 1-year high of $145.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.95. The company has a market capitalization of $12.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $134.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.89.

DaVita (NYSE:DVA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.43. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. DaVita had a return on equity of 68.52% and a net margin of 6.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.58 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that DaVita will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider James O. Hearty sold 26,164 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.64, for a total transaction of $3,130,260.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 20,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,424,384.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Javier Rodriguez sold 67,603 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 488,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,629,578.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider James O. Hearty sold 26,164 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.64, for a total value of $3,130,260.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,424,384.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,540 shares of company stock valued at $16,551,071 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DaVita

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in DaVita by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,320,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $662,161,000 after acquiring an additional 145,711 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of DaVita by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,667,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,606,000 after purchasing an additional 292,767 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of DaVita by 421.8% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,095,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,518,000 after purchasing an additional 885,195 shares during the period. Gates Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of DaVita by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Gates Capital Management Inc. now owns 905,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,895,000 after purchasing an additional 27,660 shares during the period. Finally, 8 Knots Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of DaVita in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $89,504,000. 90.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About DaVita

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.