Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (NYSE:FMS) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Strong Sell

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (NYSE:FMS) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Erste Group Bank downgraded Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a “strong sell” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and an average target price of $28.00.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA Price Performance

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA stock opened at $21.67 on Wednesday. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA has a 12 month low of $20.02 and a 12 month high of $29.07. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $22.31 and its 200-day moving average is $22.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $12.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.81.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (NYSE:FMS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA had a return on equity of 8.90% and a net margin of 4.88%.The company had revenue of $5.34 billion for the quarter. Equities research analysts expect that Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA will post 2.24 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 47.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,939,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,027,000 after purchasing an additional 942,497 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 2.0% during the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 15,052,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,592,000 after purchasing an additional 299,986 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 279.7% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 337,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,637,000 after purchasing an additional 248,477 shares during the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA lifted its stake in Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 1,136.0% during the fourth quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 249,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,950,000 after purchasing an additional 229,589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integral Health Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA by 44.4% during the fourth quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC now owns 650,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,483,000 after purchasing an additional 200,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.37% of the company’s stock.

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA Company Profile

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co KGaA is the world’s largest integrated provider of products and services for individuals with renal diseases. The company’s primary business activities encompass the operation of dialysis clinics and the manufacture and distribution of dialysis equipment, dialysis machines, dialyzers, consumables and related therapies. Through its global network of clinics, Fresenius Medical Care delivers comprehensive kidney care, including hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis treatments, patient education and support services.

In its products segment, the company designs and produces dialysis machines, water treatment systems and disposables such as high‐flux dialyzers and bloodlines.