Fresenius Medical Care AG (NYSE:FMS) Short Interest Down 34.5% in May

Fresenius Medical Care AG (NYSE:FMS - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,710,000 shares, a decline of 34.5% from the May 15th total of 2,610,000 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 458,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FMS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating on shares of Fresenius Medical Care in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Fresenius Medical Care from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen started coverage on Fresenius Medical Care in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued a "strong-buy" rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fresenius Medical Care

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased 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 valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Fresenius Medical Care by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 9,278 shares of the company's stock worth $210,000 after buying an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Fresenius Medical Care by 0.9% during the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 64,871 shares of the company's stock worth $1,615,000 after buying an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Fresenius Medical Care by 192.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,224 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Callan Capital LLC grew its holdings in Fresenius Medical Care by 6.6% during the first quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 13,974 shares of the company's stock worth $348,000 after buying an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 8.37% of the company's stock.

Fresenius Medical Care Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of FMS stock opened at $28.51 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $16.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.56, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.37. Fresenius Medical Care has a fifty-two week low of $17.93 and a fifty-two week high of $30.46.

Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Fresenius Medical Care had a return on equity of 6.04% and a net margin of 3.43%. Research analysts forecast that Fresenius Medical Care will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Fresenius Medical Care Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 23rd were issued 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 of this dividend was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a dividend yield of 1.9%. Fresenius Medical Care's payout ratio is currently 50.89%.

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.

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