HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Reaches New 52-Week High at $408.00

Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $408.00 and last traded at $408.00, with a volume of 138 shares. The stock had previously closed at $404.66.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $376.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Truist Financial raised their target price on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $327.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $427.00 target price on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $359.89.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.2 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $370.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $340.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $17.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 22.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.16%.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 17,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,303,912.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total value of $659,327.85. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 17,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,303,912.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,202 shares of company stock valued at $6,407,273. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Bangor Savings Bank grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 284.0% during the second quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 96 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.