HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Trading 5% Higher Following Earnings Beat

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)’s share price shot up 5% during mid-day trading on Monday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $327.81 and last traded at $328.75. 883,044 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 1,654,547 shares. The stock had previously closed at $313.07.

The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $5.90 earnings per share.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HCA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James lowered HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $382.19.

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, 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 transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at $2,415,579. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC grew its stake 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. increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,669,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,842,000 after buying an additional 174,946 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $604,511,000 after acquiring an additional 41,190 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 12.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,339,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $544,467,000 after purchasing an additional 143,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 843,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,020,000 after purchasing an additional 193,075 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71. The company has a market cap of $83.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64. The company’s 50-day moving average is $313.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $353.24.

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.