MetLife Investment Management LLC Lowers Stake in DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA)

MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,046 shares of the company’s stock after selling 319 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in DaVita were worth $2,101,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DVA. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of DaVita during the fourth quarter valued at $55,100,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in DaVita by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,589,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,716,000 after acquiring an additional 275,284 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its stake in DaVita by 116.4% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 446,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,726,000 after acquiring an additional 240,126 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its stake in DaVita by 298.4% in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 239,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,888,000 after acquiring an additional 179,744 shares during the period. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its stake in DaVita by 256.8% in the fourth quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 162,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,301,000 after acquiring an additional 116,758 shares during the period. 90.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

DaVita Stock Performance

DVA opened at $140.64 on Tuesday. DaVita Inc. has a 52-week low of $131.27 and a 52-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. The company has a market cap of $11.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $146.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.10.

DaVita (NYSE:DVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that DaVita Inc. will post 10.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.