HCA Healthcare’s (HCA) “Overweight” Rating Reaffirmed at Cantor Fitzgerald

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $405.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 23.33% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on HCA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $382.19.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 1.1 %

HCA opened at $328.39 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.18 billion, a PE ratio of 14.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.12. HCA Healthcare has a one year low of $281.61 and a one year high of $417.14. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $313.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $353.24.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 520.98%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare will post 21.75 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,415,579. This represents a 29.76 % 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, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were 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 directly owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 31.7% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,241,000 after buying an additional 4,285 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Group LP acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth $150,548,000. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at $18,044,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth about $869,000. Finally, NRI Wealth Management LC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,896,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.