HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at KeyCorp

KeyCorp upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on HCA. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and set a $392.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays raised their price target on HCA Healthcare from $376.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com upgraded HCA Healthcare from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $359.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $365.65.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $394.54 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11. The company has a market capitalization of $103.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.67. HCA Healthcare has a 12 month low of $215.96 and a 12 month high of $409.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $387.15 and a 200-day moving average of $347.49.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $17.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.05 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 553.13% and a net margin of 8.40%. HCA Healthcare’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare will post 22.51 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In related news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 2,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.51, for a total transaction of $1,085,804.37. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,454 shares in the company, valued at $3,436,623.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,202 shares of company stock valued at $6,407,273 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 57.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,792,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $931,342,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019,750 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 2nd quarter valued at $131,527,000. Darsana Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 53.3% in the second quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $369,472,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the first quarter valued at about $95,882,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,186,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,757,181,000 after purchasing an additional 170,560 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

About HCA Healthcare

HCA Healthcare, Inc, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates hospitals and related healthcare entities in the United States. It operates general and acute care hospitals that offers medical and surgical services, including inpatient care, intensive care, cardiac care, diagnostic, and emergency services; and outpatient services, such as outpatient surgery, laboratory, radiology, respiratory therapy, cardiology, and physical therapy.