Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS) Shares Gap Up to $19.54

Fresenius Medical Care AG (NYSE:FMS) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $19.54, but opened at $20.66. Fresenius Medical Care shares last traded at $20.68, with a volume of 272,203 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on FMS shares. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Fresenius Medical Care from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Fresenius Medical Care from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Fresenius Medical Care currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.25.

Fresenius Medical Care Stock Up 4.5 %

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $19.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.61 billion, a PE ratio of 23.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.42.

Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.11. Fresenius Medical Care had a net margin of 2.56% and a return on equity of 4.99%. The company had revenue of $5.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.32 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Fresenius Medical Care AG will post 1.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fresenius Medical Care Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.437 per share. This represents a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Fresenius Medical Care’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.65%.

Institutional Trading of Fresenius Medical Care

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Veracity Capital LLC grew its position in Fresenius Medical Care by 172.2% during the 1st quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 53,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 33,543 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fresenius Medical Care during the 1st quarter valued at about $584,000. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 38,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $748,000 after acquiring an additional 2,890 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 104.3% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 20,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 10,584 shares during the last quarter. 8.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.