HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Stock Price Up 4.5% – What’s Next?

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)’s share price traded up 4.5% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $342.60 and last traded at $345.10. 439,012 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 1,677,116 shares. The stock had previously closed at $330.15.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on HCA. Bank of America cut their target price on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial cut their target price on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. KeyCorp cut their target price on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The firm has a market cap of $79.60 billion, a PE ratio of 14.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $317.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $346.50.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 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.