Short Interest in DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) Drops By 14.9%

DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) saw a large decrease in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,300,000 shares, a decrease 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 short-interest ratio is presently 6.0 days. Currently, 5.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Activity at DaVita

In other news, insider Kathleen Alyce Waters sold 7,857 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.21, for a total transaction of $1,148,771.97. Following the sale, the insider now owns 83,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,137,038.31. The trade was 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 accessible through this hyperlink. In other DaVita news, COO Michael David Staffieri sold 9,539 shares of DaVita stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.03, for a total transaction of $1,431,136.17. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 241,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,299,008.35. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Kathleen Alyce Waters sold 7,857 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.21, for a total value of $1,148,771.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 83,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,137,038.31. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 173,482 shares of company stock valued at $27,387,069 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DaVita

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DVA. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of DaVita by 58.6% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 211 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in DaVita during the 2nd quarter worth $43,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of DaVita by 90.6% in 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 last quarter. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of DaVita in the second quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in DaVita during the second quarter worth about $68,000. 90.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of DaVita from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of DaVita from $150.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen increased their price target on DaVita from $139.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group boosted 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. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on DaVita from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $161.80.

DaVita Price Performance

Shares of DVA stock traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $140.57. 790,406 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 817,066. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94. DaVita has a 52-week low of $76.17 and a 52-week high of $168.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $158.21 and a 200 day moving average of $146.02. The company has a market cap of $11.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.87.

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