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

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, twelve have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $382.19.

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 322.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,276,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397,883 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,669,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,842,000 after purchasing an additional 174,946 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 2.8% during the third 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 buying an additional 41,190 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 12.0% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,339,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $544,467,000 after purchasing an additional 143,995 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 29.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 843,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,020,000 after buying an additional 193,075 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $327.80 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $313.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $353.27. HCA Healthcare has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64. 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 (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 520.98% and a net margin of 8.52%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that HCA Healthcare will post 21.75 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 11.85%.

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.