DaVita (NYSE:DVA) Hits New 52-Week High on Earnings Beat

DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $142.29 and last traded at $141.17, with a volume of 90917 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $139.75.

The company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.43. DaVita had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 66.59%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. DaVita’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DVA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised DaVita from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. TheStreet raised DaVita from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Truist Financial raised their target price on DaVita from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays started coverage on shares of DaVita in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $133.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of DaVita from $113.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned 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 “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at DaVita

In other news, insider James O. Hearty sold 26,164 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.64, for a total value of $3,130,260.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 20,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,424,384.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider James O. Hearty sold 26,164 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.64, for a total transaction of $3,130,260.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 20,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,424,384.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Kathleen Alyce Waters sold 11,285 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.73, for a total value of $1,362,438.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 81,297 shares in the company, valued at $9,814,986.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 134,540 shares of company stock worth $16,551,071 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of DaVita

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DVA. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of DaVita by 421.8% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,095,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,518,000 after buying an additional 885,195 shares during the period. 8 Knots Management LLC acquired a new stake in DaVita in the fourth quarter worth about $89,504,000. Doma Perpetual Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in DaVita during the 4th quarter worth about $53,076,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in DaVita during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,626,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of DaVita by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,667,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,606,000 after purchasing an additional 292,767 shares during the last quarter. 90.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

DaVita Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.65, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $11.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $133.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.17.

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.