Analysts Set HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Price Target at $356.17

Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $359.89.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HCA. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $345.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $327.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $392.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $359.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total value of $659,327.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 17,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,303,912.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total value of $659,327.85. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 17,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,303,912.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 2,987 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $363.51, for a total transaction of $1,085,804.37. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,436,623.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,844 shares of company stock worth $3,185,932 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,030,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 50.7% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 2,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 851 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 108,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,494,000 after purchasing an additional 14,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at $54,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $387.89 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $101.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $355.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $335.92. HCA Healthcare has a 1 year low of $215.96 and a 1 year high of $403.05.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $17.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.05 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 553.13% and a net margin of 8.40%. The business’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.29 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare will post 22.5 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio 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.