DaVita (NYSE:DVA) Lifted to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of DaVita (NYSE:DVA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on DVA. Barclays initiated coverage on DaVita in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an equal weight rating and a $133.00 price objective for the company. TheStreet upgraded DaVita from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective on DaVita from $113.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on DaVita from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, DaVita has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $118.50.

DaVita Stock Performance

DVA opened at $132.77 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.65, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.13. DaVita has a 1-year low of $71.51 and a 1-year high of $141.54. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $131.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $110.16.

DaVita (NYSE:DVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.34. DaVita had a return on equity of 64.42% and a net margin of 5.70%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that DaVita will post 9.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Javier Rodriguez sold 67,603 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.11, for a total value of $8,525,414.33. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 488,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,629,578.67. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other DaVita news, CEO Javier Rodriguez sold 67,603 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.11, for a total transaction of $8,525,414.33. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 488,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,629,578.67. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Michael David Staffieri sold 29,488 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.81, for a total transaction of $3,532,957.28. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 37,687 shares in the company, valued at $4,515,279.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 134,540 shares of company stock worth $16,551,071 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DaVita

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DVA. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in DaVita during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of DaVita in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of DaVita in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of DaVita in the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of DaVita by 242.3% in the third quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. 90.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.