DaVita (NYSE:DVA) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” by StockNews.com

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

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. TheStreet raised DaVita from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays assumed coverage on DaVita in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an equal weight rating and a $133.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial increased their target price on DaVita from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on DaVita from $113.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $118.50.

DaVita Stock Performance

Shares of DaVita stock opened at $132.77 on Thursday. DaVita has a 52 week low of $71.51 and a 52 week high of $141.54. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $131.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.16. The firm has a market cap of $11.64 billion, a PE ratio of 17.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.65.

DaVita (NYSE:DVA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.34. DaVita had a return on equity of 64.42% and a net margin of 5.70%. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that DaVita will post 9.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at DaVita

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of DaVita in the 1st quarter valued at about $244,000. Equitable Trust Co. grew its stake in DaVita by 47.2% during the 1st quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 40,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,541,000 after buying an additional 12,871 shares during the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its stake in DaVita by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 11,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,524,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in DaVita by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 334,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,141,000 after buying an additional 25,372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nilsine Partners LLC grew its stake in DaVita by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 11,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,524,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.12% of the company’s stock.

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.