Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS) Shares Gap Down to $21.48

Shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG (NYSE:FMS) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $21.48, but opened at $20.98. Fresenius Medical Care shares last traded at $20.90, with a volume of 62,603 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on FMS shares. Morgan Stanley lowered Fresenius Medical Care from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Fresenius Medical Care in a research note on Friday. They issued a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.25.

Fresenius Medical Care Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $11.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.98, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $19.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.47.

Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.32 billion. Fresenius Medical Care had a return on equity of 4.99% and a net margin of 2.56%. On average, equities analysts predict that Fresenius Medical Care AG will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Fresenius Medical Care Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.437 dividend. This represents a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Fresenius Medical Care’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.65%.

Institutional Trading of Fresenius Medical Care

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 7.3% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC boosted its position in Fresenius Medical Care by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 10,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 21.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 98.8% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 1,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 839 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 4.4% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 20,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.25% of the company’s stock.

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.