DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) Short Interest Update

DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,300,000 shares, a drop of 14.9% from the September 30th total of 5,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 711,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.0 days. Currently, 5.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

DaVita Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of DVA stock traded down $2.36 on Thursday, reaching $138.86. 234,835 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 814,433. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $158.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $146.02. DaVita has a 52 week low of $76.17 and a 52 week high of $168.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.65 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.87.

DaVita (NYSE:DVA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. DaVita had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 77.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.85 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that DaVita will post 9.99 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DVA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of DaVita from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of DaVita from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of DaVita from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on DaVita from $139.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $159.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Joel Ackerman sold 64,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 111,481 shares in the company, valued at $17,286,243.86. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Javier Rodriguez sold 32,176 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.93, for a total transaction of $5,017,203.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 905,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141,219,407.87. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joel Ackerman sold 64,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.06, for a total value of $9,928,336.74. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 111,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,286,243.86. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 173,482 shares of company stock worth $27,387,069. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Harvard Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of DaVita in the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,115,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in DaVita by 147.3% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 256,872 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,460,000 after acquiring an additional 153,008 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in DaVita by 146.7% in the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 187,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,840,000 after acquiring an additional 111,311 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in DaVita in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $9,615,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of DaVita during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,346,000. 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.