Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. lowered its stake in shares of DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) by 39.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,058 shares of the company’s stock after selling 695 shares during the quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc.’s holdings in DaVita were worth $158,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of DaVita during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of DaVita by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 300 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan acquired a new position in shares of DaVita during the fourth quarter worth $55,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of DaVita by 59.8% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 406 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of DaVita by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 461 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.12% of the company’s stock.

DaVita Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DVA opened at $145.23 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.57. DaVita Inc. has a one year low of $131.44 and a one year high of $179.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.18, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.52, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.14.

DaVita (NYSE:DVA) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.25. DaVita had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 115.48%. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that DaVita Inc. will post 10.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of DaVita in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $184.00 price objective on shares of DaVita in a research note on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of DaVita from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of DaVita from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.33.

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.