HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $385.27.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HCA. Truist Financial lowered their price target on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lowered their price target on HCA Healthcare from $396.00 to $392.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $303.64 on Friday. HCA Healthcare has a 1-year low of $276.50 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $321.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $353.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.91 billion, a PE ratio of 13.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.85%.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In related news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total value of $1,023,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,415,579. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,363,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 322.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,276,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397,883 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 11.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,669,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,842,000 after acquiring an additional 174,946 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,487,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $604,511,000 after acquiring an additional 41,190 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 12.0% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,339,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $544,467,000 after acquiring an additional 143,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 53.3% during the second quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $369,472,000 after acquiring an additional 400,000 shares during 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.