DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the five research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $162.80.

Separately, Barclays raised their price objective on DaVita from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Institutional Trading of DaVita

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DVA. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of DaVita by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 466,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,697,000 after acquiring an additional 57,386 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its position in DaVita by 154.4% during the fourth quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 95,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,263,000 after purchasing an additional 57,883 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of DaVita by 119.2% in the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,864,000 after buying an additional 6,778 shares during the period. State of Wyoming increased its holdings in shares of DaVita by 59.6% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 754 shares during the period. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH purchased a new position in shares of DaVita in the fourth quarter worth about $603,000. 90.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

DaVita Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of DaVita stock traded down $2.33 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $155.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 141,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 709,241. DaVita has a 12 month low of $119.42 and a 12 month high of $179.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $161.39 and a 200 day moving average of $157.80. The company has a market capitalization of $12.72 billion, a PE ratio of 16.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.78, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.33.

DaVita (NYSE:DVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.10. DaVita had a return on equity of 88.18% and a net margin of 6.53%. Analysts predict that DaVita will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current year.

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.