Analysts Set HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) PT at $391.27

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $385.27.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on HCA shares. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $396.00 to $392.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of 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 at HCA Healthcare

In other news, 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,415,579. This trade represents a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,363,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at $18,445,700. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 322.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,276,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397,883 shares in the last quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 53.3% during the second quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $369,472,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Group LP bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth $150,548,000. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 210.6% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 306,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,691,000 after acquiring an additional 208,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 843,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,020,000 after purchasing an additional 193,075 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE:HCA opened at $311.19 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $78.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare has a 1-year low of $276.50 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $322.73 and its 200-day moving average is $353.88. 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.