HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $316.59.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on HCA shares. TD Cowen cut their target price on HCA Healthcare from $371.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $356.00 to $367.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total transaction of $1,305,067.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,138,652.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total value of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 973 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $303,576.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 22,365 shares in the company, valued at $6,977,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,455 shares of company stock worth $2,008,700. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth approximately $206,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.2% during the third quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $689,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 5.8% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,090,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 37,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,280,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of HCA opened at $310.06 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.46, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66. HCA Healthcare has a 52 week low of $215.96 and a 52 week high of $335.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $321.84 and a 200-day moving average of $298.27.

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

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.16%.

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.