HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, twelve have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $385.67.

Several equities analysts recently commented on HCA shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total value of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its position 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $336.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $82.75 billion, a PE ratio of 15.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $322.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $341.89.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.90 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. 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. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

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.