DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Shares of DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $166.33.

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of DaVita from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Cowen restated a "hold" rating on shares of DaVita in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com upgraded DaVita from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $184.00 price target on DaVita in a report on Friday, February 21st.

DaVita Stock Performance

DVA stock traded up $2.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $155.48. The company had a trading volume of 581,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 823,503. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.44 billion, a PE ratio of 14.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $152.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.59. DaVita has a fifty-two week low of $125.64 and a fifty-two week high of $179.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.18.

DaVita (NYSE:DVA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.10. DaVita had a return on equity of 115.48% and a net margin of 7.31%. Analysts anticipate that DaVita will post 10.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DaVita

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of DaVita in the fourth quarter worth about $55,100,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in DaVita by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,589,545 shares of the company's stock worth $237,716,000 after purchasing an additional 275,284 shares in the last quarter. Iron Triangle Partners LP acquired a new stake in DaVita during the 4th quarter valued at $38,946,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of DaVita by 116.4% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 446,386 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,726,000 after purchasing an additional 240,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of DaVita by 14,695.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 234,809 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,919,000 after buying an additional 233,222 shares in the last quarter. 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.