Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (NYSE:FMS) Short Interest Up 56.6% in December

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (NYSE:FMS) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,187,068 shares, a growth of 56.6% from the November 30th total of 758,068 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 577,313 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Currently, 0.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Currently, 0.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 577,313 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

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

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 14.9% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 35,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $889,000 after purchasing an additional 4,622 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA during the first quarter worth approximately $1,394,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 33.3% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 1,508.1% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 287,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,165,000 after buying an additional 269,857 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 5.0% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 380,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,468,000 after buying an additional 18,061 shares in the last quarter. 8.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on FMS shares. UBS Group downgraded Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a “sell” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Bank of America lowered shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $30.00.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA Price Performance

NYSE:FMS opened at $24.09 on Monday. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA has a 1-year low of $22.05 and a 1-year high of $30.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.55.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (NYSE:FMS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $5.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.72 billion. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA had a net margin of 3.72% and a return on equity of 7.42%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.