DaVita (NYSE:DVA) Downgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

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

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

DaVita Stock Performance

NYSE:DVA traded up $2.42 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $136.87. 1,433,893 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 846,295. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $133.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.08. DaVita has a one year low of $71.51 and a one year high of $145.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.95. The firm has a market cap of $12.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Javier Rodriguez sold 67,603 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.11, for a total value of $8,525,414.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 488,697 shares in the company, valued at $61,629,578.67. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider James O. Hearty sold 26,164 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 20,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,424,384.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Javier Rodriguez sold 67,603 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 488,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,629,578.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 134,540 shares of company stock worth $16,551,071. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of DaVita

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in DaVita by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its stake in DaVita by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 15,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,670,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its holdings in DaVita by 21.0% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 581 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in DaVita by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of DaVita by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 24,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,316,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. 90.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.