Fresenius Medical Care AG (NYSE:FMS) Short Interest Up 63.6% in March

Fresenius Medical Care AG (NYSE:FMS) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,330,000 shares, an increase of 63.6% from the February 29th total of 813,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 438,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fresenius Medical Care

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in Fresenius Medical Care by 46.9% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 14,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 4,522 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fresenius Medical Care in the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Fresenius Medical Care by 7,250.0% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 74,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,548,000 after buying an additional 73,297 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Fresenius Medical Care during the 4th quarter worth approximately $301,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Fresenius Medical Care in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $329,000. Institutional investors own 8.25% of the company’s stock.

Fresenius Medical Care Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of FMS stock traded down $0.07 on Friday, reaching $19.29. 204,409 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 569,348. The stock has a market cap of $11.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.00. Fresenius Medical Care has a one year low of $16.37 and a one year high of $27.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.82.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on FMS. Morgan Stanley cut Fresenius Medical Care from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com raised Fresenius Medical Care from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.25.

Fresenius Medical Care 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.