Vanguard Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA)

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,214,815 shares of the company’s stock after selling 170,752 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 6.36% of DaVita worth $779,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of DaVita by 116.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 446,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,726,000 after buying an additional 240,126 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in DaVita by 659.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 177,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,082,000 after acquiring an additional 154,061 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its holdings in DaVita by 256.8% in the fourth quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 162,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,301,000 after purchasing an additional 116,758 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of DaVita by 17.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 609,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,846,000 after purchasing an additional 92,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of DaVita during the 4th quarter valued at $9,371,000. 90.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

DaVita Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DVA opened at $150.29 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $12.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.99, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.99. DaVita Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.64 and a 12 month high of $179.60. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $157.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.18.

DaVita (NYSE:DVA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.10. DaVita had a return on equity of 115.48% and a net margin of 7.31%. As a group, analysts predict that DaVita Inc. will post 10.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com cut DaVita from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $184.00 price objective on shares of DaVita in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of DaVita in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of DaVita from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.33.

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.