Brokerages Set HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) PT at $385.67

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $381.67.

Several research firms recently commented on HCA. Truist Financial lowered their target price on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $336.00 price objective (down from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $334.38 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $328.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $335.10. HCA Healthcare has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.32 billion, a PE ratio of 15.22, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total value of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth about $18,044,000. NRI Wealth Management LC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth about $2,896,000. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 39,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,869,000 after acquiring an additional 1,691 shares during the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,122,000. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 116,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,840,000 after buying an additional 8,329 shares during the period. 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.