DaVita (NYSE:DVA) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

DaVita (NYSE:DVA) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on DVA. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of DaVita in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $184.00 target price on shares of DaVita in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of DaVita from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.33.

DaVita Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of DVA stock opened at $148.25 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $158.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $157.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.18, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.21. DaVita has a 1-year low of $125.64 and a 1-year high of $179.60. The firm has a market cap of $11.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.99.

DaVita (NYSE:DVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.10. DaVita had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 115.48%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that DaVita will post 10.76 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DaVita

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Copia Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of DaVita during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in DaVita during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC raised its position in DaVita by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 300 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in DaVita in the 3rd quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new position in shares of DaVita during the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.