Fresenius Medical Care AG (NYSE:FMS) Short Interest Up 63.6% in March

Fresenius Medical Care AG (NYSE:FMS) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,330,000 shares, a growth of 63.6% from the February 29th total of 813,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 438,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Fresenius Medical Care Trading Down 0.4 %

Fresenius Medical Care stock traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $19.29. 204,409 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 569,348. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.96, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $19.75 and its 200-day moving average is $19.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.42. Fresenius Medical Care has a fifty-two week low of $16.37 and a fifty-two week high of $27.72.

Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.32 billion. Fresenius Medical Care had a net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 4.99%. On average, analysts predict that Fresenius Medical Care will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FMS. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Fresenius Medical Care from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Fresenius Medical Care from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fresenius Medical Care presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fresenius Medical Care

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FMS. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 77.1% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,570,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,667,000 after buying an additional 683,851 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care during the 2nd quarter valued at about $16,738,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 14,252.1% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 488,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,173,000 after buying an additional 484,998 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Fresenius Medical Care by 69.5% in the 1st quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 750,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,958,000 after purchasing an additional 307,801 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 240.0% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 404,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,682,000 after buying an additional 285,705 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 8.25% of the company’s stock.

About Fresenius Medical Care

Fresenius Medical Care AG provides dialysis and related services for individuals with renal diseases in Germany, North America, and internationally. The company offers dialysis treatment and related laboratory and diagnostic services through a network of outpatient dialysis clinics; materials, training, and patient support services comprising clinical monitoring, follow-up assistance, and arranging for delivery of the supplies to the patient's residence; and dialysis services under contract to hospitals in the United States for the hospitalized end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients and for patients suffering from acute kidney failure.