HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $371.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $356.00 to $367.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $316.59.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.4 %

HCA stock opened at $307.68 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.16. HCA Healthcare has a one year low of $215.96 and a one year high of $335.83. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $322.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $297.17. The company has a market capitalization of $81.38 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 674.49% and a net margin of 8.20%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that HCA Healthcare will post 20.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $289,299.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $520,474. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total value of $110,757.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,470.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,127 shares of company stock valued at $2,218,364. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth $27,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.