LPL Financial LLC Lowers Holdings in DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA)

LPL Financial LLC cut its stake in DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) by 26.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,721 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,836 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in DaVita were worth $2,052,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of DaVita by 116.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 446,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,726,000 after purchasing an additional 240,126 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its position in DaVita by 256.8% in the fourth quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 162,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,301,000 after purchasing an additional 116,758 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of DaVita by 17.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 609,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,846,000 after buying an additional 92,014 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of DaVita in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,371,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of DaVita by 212.6% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 90,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,578,000 after buying an additional 61,731 shares during the period. 90.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded DaVita from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays lifted their price target 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 restated a “hold” rating on shares of DaVita in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $184.00 target price on DaVita in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $166.33.

DaVita Stock Performance

DVA opened at $150.85 on Tuesday. DaVita Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.64 and a fifty-two week high of $179.60. The firm has a market cap of $12.07 billion, a PE ratio of 14.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.51.

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

DaVita 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.