Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (NYSE:FMS) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (NYSE:FMS) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a “strong sell” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus price target of $28.00.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE FMS opened at $21.67 on Wednesday. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA has a 12-month low of $20.02 and a 12-month high of $29.07. The stock has a market cap of $12.10 billion, a PE ratio of 11.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $22.31 and a 200 day moving average of $22.97.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (NYSE:FMS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA had a net margin of 4.88% and a return on equity of 8.90%. The company had revenue of $5.34 billion during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA will post 2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FMS. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 47.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,939,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,027,000 after purchasing an additional 942,497 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 15,052,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,592,000 after purchasing an additional 299,986 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 279.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 337,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,637,000 after purchasing an additional 248,477 shares during the period. ABC Arbitrage SA boosted its position in shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 1,136.0% during the 4th quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 249,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,950,000 after purchasing an additional 229,589 shares during the period. Finally, Integral Health Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 44.4% during the 4th quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 650,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,483,000 after purchasing an additional 200,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.37% of the company’s stock.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA Company Profile

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co KGaA is the world’s largest integrated provider of products and services for individuals with renal diseases. The company’s primary business activities encompass the operation of dialysis clinics and the manufacture and distribution of dialysis equipment, dialysis machines, dialyzers, consumables and related therapies. Through its global network of clinics, Fresenius Medical Care delivers comprehensive kidney care, including hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis treatments, patient education and support services.

In its products segment, the company designs and produces dialysis machines, water treatment systems and disposables such as high‐flux dialyzers and bloodlines.