HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also commented on HCA. Barclays set a $416.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $404.00 target price (up previously from $376.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $410.00 price objective on HCA Healthcare and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Stephens raised HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Baird R W cut HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $395.71.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

HCA stock opened at $372.84 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $89.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $371.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $339.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. HCA Healthcare has a 12 month low of $289.98 and a 12 month high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.75 by $0.70. The company had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.26 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 1,063.91% and a net margin of 8.07%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.32, for a total value of $5,797,585.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,670,420.72. This represents a 55.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,655,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,498,417,000 after purchasing an additional 116,826 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,503,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,351,830,000 after acquiring an additional 23,177 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,871,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,159,882,000 after purchasing an additional 50,321 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,928,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $878,975,000 after purchasing an additional 19,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at about $840,286,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.