HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Receives $391.27 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $385.27.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $392.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com downgraded HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of HCA stock opened at $308.55 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.85, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare has a 1 year low of $276.50 and a 1 year high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $324.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $354.48.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,363,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,415,579. This trade represents a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. FMR LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 322.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,276,909,000 after buying an additional 2,397,883 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 11.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,669,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,842,000 after purchasing an additional 174,946 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 2.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,487,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $604,511,000 after buying an additional 41,190 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,339,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,467,000 after buying an additional 143,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 53.3% during the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $369,472,000 after acquiring an additional 400,000 shares during the period. 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.