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

StockNews.com lowered shares of DaVita (NYSE:DVA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday morning.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $184.00 target price on DaVita in a report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of DaVita from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of DaVita in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $166.33.

DaVita Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of DVA stock opened at $149.37 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $11.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.18, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $155.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.28. DaVita has a one year low of $125.64 and a one year high of $179.60.

DaVita (NYSE:DVA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.10. DaVita had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 115.48%. Analysts predict that DaVita will post 10.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of DaVita

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of DaVita by 659.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 177,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,082,000 after purchasing an additional 154,061 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in DaVita by 16.6% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $654,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its position in DaVita by 313.6% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 9,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after purchasing an additional 7,281 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired a new stake in DaVita in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,820,000. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of DaVita during the 3rd quarter worth about $454,000. 90.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

DaVita Company Profile

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.