Northern Trust Corp Acquires 113,953 Shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG (NYSE:FMS)

Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG (NYSE:FMS - Free Report) by 45.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 362,190 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 113,953 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.06% of Fresenius Medical Care worth $8,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FMS. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Fresenius Medical Care by 192.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,224 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 806 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 234.1% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,151 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 2,208 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 80.5% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,510 shares of the company's stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 2,012 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,700 shares of the company's stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 196.3% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 7,210 shares of the company's stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 4,777 shares during the period. 8.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on Fresenius Medical Care from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating on shares of Fresenius Medical Care in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen initiated coverage on shares of Fresenius Medical Care in a report on Tuesday. They issued a "strong-buy" rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $27.80.

Fresenius Medical Care Stock Down 1.2%

FMS traded down $0.35 on Friday, hitting $28.97. The company had a trading volume of 500,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 327,295. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.85. Fresenius Medical Care AG has a 52-week low of $17.93 and a 52-week high of $30.46.

Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.01. Fresenius Medical Care had a return on equity of 6.04% and a net margin of 3.43%. The firm had revenue of $5.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Fresenius Medical Care AG will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fresenius Medical Care Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.7871 per share. This is an increase from Fresenius Medical Care's previous annual dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a dividend yield of 1.9%. Fresenius Medical Care's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.11%.

About Fresenius Medical Care

Fresenius Medical Care AG provides dialysis and related services for individuals with renal diseases in Germany, North America, and internationally. The company offers dialysis treatment and related laboratory and diagnostic services through a network of outpatient dialysis clinics; materials, training, and patient support services comprising clinical monitoring, follow-up assistance, and arranging for delivery of the supplies to the patient's residence; and dialysis services under contract to hospitals in the United States for the hospitalized end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients and for patients suffering from acute kidney failure.