DaVita (NYSE:DVA) Trading 4.7% Higher – Here’s What Happened

DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) shares traded up 4.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $152.99 and last traded at $153.95. 246,974 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 787,612 shares. The stock had previously closed at $147.02.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on DVA shares. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of DaVita in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on DaVita from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $184.00 target price on DaVita in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, DaVita currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $166.33.

DaVita Trading Up 3.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $159.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.99.

DaVita (NYSE:DVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.10. DaVita had a return on equity of 115.48% and a net margin of 7.31%. Equities analysts expect that DaVita Inc. will post 10.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On DaVita

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of DaVita by 134.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 54,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,885,000 after acquiring an additional 31,502 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in DaVita by 659.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 177,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,082,000 after acquiring an additional 154,061 shares during the last quarter. Atom Investors LP bought a new position in shares of DaVita during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,094,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of DaVita by 201.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 74,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,159,000 after purchasing an additional 49,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in DaVita in the third quarter valued at approximately $726,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.12% of the company’s stock.

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.