DaVita (NYSE:DVA) Lifted to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

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

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of DaVita from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of DaVita from $113.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. TheStreet upgraded shares of DaVita from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of DaVita in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $133.00 price target on the stock. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.50.

DaVita Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE DVA traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $132.77. The stock had a trading volume of 519,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 802,587. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.65, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.19. DaVita has a 1 year low of $71.51 and a 1 year high of $141.54. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $131.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $110.16. The firm has a market cap of $11.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James O. Hearty sold 26,164 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,424,384.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other 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 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Javier Rodriguez sold 67,603 shares of DaVita stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 488,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,629,578.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 134,540 shares of company stock worth $16,551,071. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DaVita

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of DaVita during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of DaVita during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of DaVita during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of DaVita during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of DaVita during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.12% of the company’s stock.

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.