Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Strong-Buy

Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Separately, Morgan Stanley cut Fresenius Medical Care from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.25.

Fresenius Medical Care Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Fresenius Medical Care stock traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $18.59. The company had a trading volume of 347,436 shares, compared to its average volume of 430,443. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $19.54 and a 200 day moving average of $19.48. Fresenius Medical Care has a 52-week low of $16.37 and a 52-week high of $27.72.

Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.32 billion. Fresenius Medical Care had a return on equity of 4.99% and a net margin of 2.56%. On average, equities analysts predict that Fresenius Medical Care will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fresenius Medical Care

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FMS. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Fresenius Medical Care by 35.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 28,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $958,000 after buying an additional 7,470 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Fresenius Medical Care by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 9,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Fresenius Medical Care by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 28,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $945,000 after buying an additional 4,162 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Fresenius Medical Care by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 9,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 1,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 56.2% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 29,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 10,676 shares in the last quarter. 8.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Fresenius Medical Care

Fresenius Medical Care AG provides dialysis and related services for individuals with renal diseases in Germany, North America, and internationally. The company offers dialysis treatment and related laboratory and diagnostic services through a network of outpatient dialysis clinics; materials, training, and patient support services comprising clinical monitoring, follow-up assistance, and arranging for delivery of the supplies to the patient's residence; and dialysis services under contract to hospitals in the United States for the hospitalized end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients and for patients suffering from acute kidney failure.