Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. reduced its position in shares of DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) by 39.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,058 shares of the company’s stock after selling 695 shares during the period. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc.’s holdings in DaVita were worth $158,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in DaVita during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC raised its holdings in DaVita by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 300 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan purchased a new position in DaVita during the fourth quarter worth about $55,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in DaVita by 59.8% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 406 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in DaVita by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 461 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. 90.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of DaVita from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of DaVita in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $184.00 target price on shares of DaVita in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of DaVita from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $166.33.

DaVita Stock Up 1.1%

DVA stock opened at $145.23 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $145.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.14. DaVita Inc. has a 12 month low of $131.44 and a 12 month high of $179.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.18, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.21.

DaVita (NYSE:DVA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 12th. The company reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.22 billion. DaVita had a net margin of 7.31% and a return on equity of 115.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that DaVita Inc. will post 10.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.