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

Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $391.27.

HCA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Oppenheimer raised their price target on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com cut HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $396.00 to $392.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $296.70 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $326.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $354.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare has a 12-month low of $271.13 and a 12-month high of $417.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total value of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,415,579. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 322.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,276,909,000 after buying an additional 2,397,883 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 11.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,669,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,842,000 after acquiring an additional 174,946 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,487,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $604,511,000 after acquiring an additional 41,190 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 12.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,339,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,467,000 after purchasing an additional 143,995 shares during the period. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 53.3% during the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $369,472,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

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.