HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Receives $381.13 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen research firms that are 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $381.13.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on HCA shares. Baird R W cut shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $336.00 price target (down from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $384.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 22.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 571,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,467,000 after purchasing an additional 104,409 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 39,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,869,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 3,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $987,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $385,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA stock opened at $362.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. HCA Healthcare has a 52 week low of $289.98 and a 52 week high of $417.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.32 billion, a PE ratio of 16.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $336.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $327.80.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.75 by $0.70. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. The firm had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 12.81%.

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.