HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $303.00 to $315.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. HCA Healthcare traded as high as $334.49 and last traded at $333.53, with a volume of 810248 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $331.69.

HCA has been the topic of several other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein cut HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Raymond James upped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $271.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, December 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $311.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total value 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 $3,138,652.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total transaction of $1,305,067.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.79, for a total value of $981,728.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,647,967.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 165.2% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 3,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 2,478 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth $303,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 26,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,103,000 after buying an additional 6,192 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,729,000. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth about $397,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 0.6 %

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $309.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $272.98. The firm has a market cap of $88.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its 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 return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. The company had revenue of $17.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.