Wells Fargo & Company Downgrades HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) to Underweight

Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $320.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $400.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on HCA. Barclays lowered their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $396.00 to $392.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $475.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Wolfe Research upgraded HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $438.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Raymond James lowered HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $380.29.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $325.47 on Monday. HCA Healthcare has a 1-year low of $245.84 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $373.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $358.28. The firm has a market cap of $82.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.68.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 11.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total transaction of $3,221,340.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,438,494.76. The trade was a 21.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,155 shares of company stock valued at $5,608,990 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 322.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,276,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397,883 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 11.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,669,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,842,000 after buying an additional 174,946 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $604,511,000 after purchasing an additional 41,190 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,339,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $544,467,000 after purchasing an additional 143,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 53.3% during the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $369,472,000 after buying an additional 400,000 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.