Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (NYSE:FMS) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (NYSE:FMS) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after Zacks Research downgraded the stock from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating. The stock had previously closed at $26.35, but opened at $23.95. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA shares last traded at $23.8210, with a volume of 503,964 shares traded.

Several other research firms have also commented on FMS. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group cut shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a “sell” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Bank of America lowered shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $30.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 39,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $994,000 after purchasing an additional 7,299 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 225.5% in the 2nd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 75,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 52,418 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA in the 1st quarter worth $164,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 243.3% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,000 after acquiring an additional 5,540 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA during the first quarter valued at $286,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.37% of the company’s stock.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA Trading Up 0.4%

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.28 billion, a PE ratio of 19.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (NYSE:FMS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.72 billion. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA had a net margin of 3.39% and a return on equity of 6.75%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA Company Profile

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.