HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Trading Down 3.9%

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)’s share price fell 3.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $327.31 and last traded at $329.85. 734,334 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 31% from the average session volume of 1,062,861 shares. The stock had previously closed at $343.29.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $356.00 to $367.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $371.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.53.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 6.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $324.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $316.70. The company has a market capitalization of $84.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.69.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 674.49%. The company had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 13.16%.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.00, for a total transaction of $494,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,544,316. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.00, for a total value of $494,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,544,316. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,863 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.18, for a total transaction of $607,673.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,397,042.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,397 shares of company stock worth $3,921,929 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. IMS Capital Management bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the first quarter worth $207,000. Railway Pension Investments Ltd increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 148,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,485,000 after purchasing an additional 5,100 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 45.4% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 96,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,920,000 after purchasing an additional 30,139 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 37.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 7,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 205.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,255,000 after buying an additional 12,608 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Company Profile

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.