Brokerages Set HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) PT at $382.19

Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $385.67.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Raymond James downgraded HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley cut 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,445,700. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total value of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,415,579. This represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% in the third quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 8,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,297,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 7.4% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 421 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.7% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,652,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.4% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 1.3 %

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $330.24 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $83.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $313.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $353.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. HCA Healthcare has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.90 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare will post 24.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.02%.

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.