HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Upgraded to Strong-Buy by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Monday.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $335.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $310.88.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of HCA stock opened at $319.14 on Monday. HCA Healthcare has a 1 year low of $215.96 and a 1 year high of $335.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $324.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $293.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $84.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.81, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.65.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.85. The company had revenue of $17.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.51 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. HCA Healthcare’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that HCA Healthcare will post 20.58 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.66 dividend. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total transaction of $1,185,327.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,899 shares in the company, valued at $4,880,993. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Sammie S. Mosier sold 1,645 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total transaction of $513,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,385,552. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total transaction of $1,185,327.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,880,993. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at $25,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other 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.