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

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have issued a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $365.65.

Several research firms recently commented on HCA. Barclays raised their target price on HCA Healthcare from $376.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Leerink Partners boosted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $367.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $438.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA stock opened at $410.77 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $393.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $351.09. The company has a market cap of $107.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.48, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.67. HCA Healthcare has a 52 week low of $215.96 and a 52 week high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.53. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.40% and a return on equity of 553.13%. The business had revenue of $17.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.29 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare will post 22.51 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total transaction of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,438,494.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total transaction of $659,327.85. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 17,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,303,912.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,202 shares of company stock valued at $6,407,273 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HCA. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 112.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 85 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 284.0% in the second quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 96 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. 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.