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

StockNews.com downgraded shares of DaVita (NYSE:DVA) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

DVA has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays assumed coverage on DaVita in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $133.00 price target on the stock. TheStreet raised DaVita from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group boosted their price target on DaVita from $113.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. 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 note on Tuesday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $118.50.

DaVita Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE DVA opened at $127.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.65, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $130.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.02. DaVita has a 1 year low of $71.51 and a 1 year high of $141.54.

DaVita (NYSE:DVA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.34. DaVita had a return on equity of 64.42% and a net margin of 5.70%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. DaVita’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that DaVita will post 9.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at DaVita

In other news, insider James O. Hearty sold 26,164 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 20,264 shares in the company, valued at $2,424,384.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider James O. Hearty sold 26,164 shares of DaVita 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,264 shares in the company, valued at $2,424,384.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael David Staffieri sold 29,488 shares of DaVita stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.81, for a total value of $3,532,957.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 37,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,515,279.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,540 shares of company stock valued at $16,551,071 over the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DaVita

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of DaVita during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV increased its holdings in shares of DaVita by 5,900.0% in the second quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of DaVita in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in DaVita by 88.6% during the 1st quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 313 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. purchased a new position in DaVita during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 90.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.