Empowered Funds LLC Increases Holdings in DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,824 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,187 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in DaVita were worth $955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in DaVita by 2,335.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 10,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,483,000 after purchasing an additional 10,300 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in DaVita by 31.7% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 63,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,709,000 after purchasing an additional 15,189 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. purchased a new stake in DaVita in the 1st quarter worth about $264,000. Natixis purchased a new stake in DaVita in the 1st quarter worth about $708,000. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in DaVita in the 1st quarter worth about $387,000. 90.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

DaVita Price Performance

NYSE DVA opened at $165.51 on Friday. DaVita Inc. has a 52-week low of $98.26 and a 52-week high of $168.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $158.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.78, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $13.57 billion, a PE ratio of 17.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.89.

DaVita (NYSE:DVA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by ($0.17). DaVita had a net margin of 6.53% and a return on equity of 88.18%. The firm had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.85 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that DaVita Inc. will post 9.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other DaVita news, CFO Joel Ackerman sold 64,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 111,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,286,243.86. This trade represents a 36.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Javier Rodriguez sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 837,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $138,284,666.75. This represents a 5.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 156,086 shares of company stock valued at $24,807,161. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DVA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of DaVita from $139.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of DaVita from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of DaVita from $150.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of DaVita from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $161.80.

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.