HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Cut to “Underweight” at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $320.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $400.00.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on HCA. StockNews.com cut HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wolfe Research raised HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $392.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $380.29.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 1.1 %

HCA opened at $325.35 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71. The stock has a market cap of $82.41 billion, a PE ratio of 14.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $374.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $358.51. HCA Healthcare has a 1-year low of $245.84 and a 1-year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at $2,415,579. This represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,155 shares of company stock worth $5,608,990 in the last ninety days. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 322.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,276,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397,883 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,669,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,842,000 after acquiring an additional 174,946 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.8% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 41,190 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,339,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $544,467,000 after acquiring an additional 143,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP increased its position 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 valued at $369,472,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Company Profile

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.