DaVita (NYSE:DVA) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume Following Strong Earnings

DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. 827,797 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 1% from the previous session’s volume of 816,789 shares.The stock last traded at $133.87 and had previously closed at $142.24.

The company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. DaVita had a net margin of 5.70% and a return on equity of 64.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.58 earnings per share.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on DVA shares. Barclays started coverage on shares of DaVita in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $133.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of DaVita from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of DaVita from $113.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. TheStreet raised DaVita from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded DaVita from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.50.

Insider Activity at DaVita

In other DaVita news, CEO Javier Rodriguez sold 67,603 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was 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 owns 488,697 shares in the company, valued at $61,629,578.67. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other DaVita news, CEO Javier Rodriguez sold 67,603 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 488,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,629,578.67. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathleen Alyce Waters sold 11,285 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,362,438.05. Following the sale, the insider now owns 81,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,814,986.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 134,540 shares of company stock valued at $16,551,071. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of DaVita in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of DaVita during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of DaVita in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of DaVita in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC grew its position in DaVita by 21.0% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 581 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.12% of the company’s stock.

DaVita Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $11.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.65. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.17.

DaVita Company Profile

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.