HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) EVP Sells $494,400.00 in Stock

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.00, for a total transaction of $494,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,544,316. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock traded down $5.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $309.42. The stock had a trading volume of 1,023,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,096,014. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $215.96 and a 1 year high of $335.83. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $321.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $298.85.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 674.49% and a net margin of 8.20%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.74 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

HCA Healthcare announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $316.59.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 9,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,019,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 42,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,041,000 after acquiring an additional 8,562 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6.7% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,044,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,335,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.