Fresenius Medical Care AG (NYSE:FMS) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Fresenius Medical Care AG (NYSE:FMS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 730,200 shares, an increase of 6.9% from the September 30th total of 683,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 294,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FMS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Fresenius Medical Care in a report on Friday. They issued a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Fresenius Medical Care from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fresenius Medical Care has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

Institutional Trading of Fresenius Medical Care

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FMS. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 1,809.0% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 343,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,556,000 after purchasing an additional 325,439 shares in the last quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. increased its position in shares of Fresenius Medical Care by 27.4% in the 2nd quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 85,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,631,000 after buying an additional 18,360 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Fresenius Medical Care by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 60,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,151,000 after buying an additional 5,946 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Fresenius Medical Care by 172.2% during the first quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 53,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 33,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning grew its stake in Fresenius Medical Care by 18.9% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 40,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $766,000 after acquiring an additional 6,373 shares during the period. 8.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fresenius Medical Care Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FMS traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $19.80. 322,946 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 370,359. Fresenius Medical Care has a fifty-two week low of $16.66 and a fifty-two week high of $22.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.17. The firm has a market cap of $11.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.91.

Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE:FMS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38. Fresenius Medical Care had a net margin of 2.72% and a return on equity of 5.48%. The business had revenue of $5.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.28 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fresenius Medical Care will post 1.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.