DaVita (NYSE:DVA) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $169.12 and last traded at $168.37, with a volume of 216981 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $165.51.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on DaVita from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of DaVita from $150.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of DaVita from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of DaVita from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $161.80.

DaVita Stock Up 0.9 %

The company has a market cap of $13.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.85, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $158.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.78.

DaVita (NYSE:DVA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. DaVita had a return on equity of 88.18% and a net margin of 6.53%. DaVita’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that DaVita Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at DaVita

In related news, CEO Javier Rodriguez sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total value of $8,252,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 837,835 shares in the company, valued at $138,284,666.75. This represents a 5.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Joel Ackerman sold 64,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.06, for a total transaction of $9,928,336.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 111,481 shares in the company, valued at $17,286,243.86. This represents a 36.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 123,910 shares of company stock valued at $19,789,958 in the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On DaVita

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DVA. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in DaVita in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of DaVita by 58.6% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 211 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in DaVita during the second quarter valued at about $43,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in DaVita by 90.6% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in DaVita during the second quarter valued at about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.12% of the company’s stock.

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.