Ariel Investments LLC Sells 256,666 Shares of DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA)

Ariel Investments LLC reduced its holdings in shares of DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) by 41.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 359,604 shares of the company’s stock after selling 256,666 shares during the quarter. Ariel Investments LLC owned 0.41% of DaVita worth $49,830,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of DaVita by 58.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 211 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in DaVita in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in DaVita in the 2nd quarter worth about $43,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in DaVita by 90.6% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in DaVita in the 2nd quarter worth about $48,000. 90.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

DaVita Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:DVA opened at $164.06 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $149.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $141.76. The firm has a market cap of $13.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.64, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.94, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.16. DaVita Inc. has a 52-week low of $71.51 and a 52-week high of $166.04.

DaVita (NYSE:DVA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.12. DaVita had a return on equity of 77.00% and a net margin of 6.86%. The company had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that DaVita Inc. will post 9.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Javier Rodriguez sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total value of $8,252,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 837,835 shares in the company, valued at $138,284,666.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Javier Rodriguez sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.05, for a total transaction of $8,252,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 837,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $138,284,666.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joel Ackerman sold 64,029 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.06, for a total value of $9,928,336.74. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 111,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,286,243.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 173,482 shares of company stock worth $27,387,069 over the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DVA has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen increased their price target on DaVita from $139.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America increased their price target on DaVita from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Truist Financial upped their target price on DaVita from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on DaVita from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered DaVita from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.00.

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.