HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Given New $329.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) had its price objective boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $322.00 to $329.00 in a research note published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

HCA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays assumed coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an overweight rating and a $356.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $335.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and raised their target price for the stock from $277.00 to $301.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $316.59.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA opened at $309.44 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $81.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $323.07 and a 200-day moving average of $296.64. HCA Healthcare has a 1 year low of $215.96 and a 1 year high of $335.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.16.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 674.49% and a net margin of 8.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare will post 20.82 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 13.16%.

HCA Healthcare announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total transaction of $203,450.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,491.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total value of $203,450.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,491.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total transaction of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,779 shares of company stock valued at $2,421,814. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth $206,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.2% during the third quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $689,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 5.8% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,090,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.9% during the third quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 37,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,280,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.