DaVita (NYSE:DVA) Raised to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

DaVita (NYSE:DVA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Monday.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of DaVita from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. TheStreet upgraded shares of DaVita from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on DaVita from $113.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on DaVita in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $133.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, DaVita has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $118.50.

DaVita Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of DVA traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $133.70. 383,098 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 864,639. The firm has a market cap of $11.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.65. DaVita has a 12-month low of $71.51 and a 12-month high of $141.54.

DaVita (NYSE:DVA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.34. DaVita had a return on equity of 64.42% and a net margin of 5.70%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that DaVita will post 9.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Javier Rodriguez sold 67,603 shares of DaVita stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.11, for a total value of $8,525,414.33. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 488,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,629,578.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other DaVita news, insider Kathleen Alyce Waters sold 11,285 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.73, for a total transaction of $1,362,438.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 81,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,814,986.81. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Javier Rodriguez sold 67,603 shares of DaVita stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.11, for a total transaction of $8,525,414.33. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 488,697 shares in the company, valued at $61,629,578.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 134,540 shares of company stock worth $16,551,071 in the last three months. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DaVita

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of DaVita during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV boosted its holdings in DaVita by 5,900.0% during the second quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 300 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in DaVita by 88.6% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 313 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of DaVita in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of DaVita during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. 90.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.