HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Shares Gap Down to $314.12

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $314.12, but opened at $297.38. HCA Healthcare shares last traded at $302.35, with a volume of 320,058 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.88.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 2.4 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $324.24 and a 200-day moving average of $294.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.55, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.18.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.93 EPS. Research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In related news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.79, for a total value of $981,728.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,647,967.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.79, for a total transaction of $981,728.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,929 shares in the company, valued at $7,647,967.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total value of $1,185,327.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,880,993. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CX Institutional raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.9% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $480,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 5.9% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 904 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth about $206,000. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 44.0% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 35,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,653,000 after purchasing an additional 10,755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 10.6% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 152,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,504,000 after purchasing an additional 14,575 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

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.