Ariel Investments LLC Trims Stock Position in DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA)

Ariel Investments LLC trimmed its holdings in DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA - Free Report) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 235,058 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,770 shares during the period. Ariel Investments LLC owned approximately 0.29% of DaVita worth $35,153,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DVA. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of DaVita by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,416 shares of the company's stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of DaVita by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,790 shares of the company's stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of DaVita by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 891 shares of the company's stock worth $133,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC grew its position in DaVita by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 1,941 shares of the company's stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in DaVita by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,082 shares of the company's stock worth $910,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on DVA shares. Barclays boosted their target price on DaVita from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $184.00 price objective on DaVita in a report on Friday, February 21st. Cowen reissued a "hold" rating on shares of DaVita in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised DaVita from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, DaVita has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $166.33.

DaVita Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of DVA traded up $1.29 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $143.91. The company had a trading volume of 674,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 819,640. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $145.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $154.27. DaVita Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.44 and a 52-week high of $179.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.18, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.26.

DaVita (NYSE:DVA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.10. DaVita had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 115.48%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that DaVita Inc. will post 10.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

DaVita 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.