HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Stock Price Down 0.9%

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)’s stock price traded down 0.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $310.15 and last traded at $311.03. 1,511,037 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 43% from the average session volume of 1,058,563 shares. The stock had previously closed at $313.89.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com downgraded HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays assumed coverage on HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $356.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.05.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 2.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $80.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $320.06 and a 200 day moving average of $280.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.85. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. The firm had revenue of $17.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total value of $1,305,067.02. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,138,652.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 92.9% during the third quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 108 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.