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 research note released on Friday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of DaVita in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays raised their target price on DaVita from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $184.00 target price on DaVita in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, DaVita has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.33.

DaVita Price Performance

DVA stock opened at $148.25 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $11.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50-day moving average is $158.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $157.56. DaVita has a 1 year low of $125.64 and a 1 year high of $179.60.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in DaVita by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in DaVita by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in DaVita by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 5,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $869,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in DaVita by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 891 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in DaVita by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $531,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 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.