HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning.

HCA has been the topic of several other research reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $310.88.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA stock opened at $314.12 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $324.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.45. HCA Healthcare has a 52 week low of $215.96 and a 52 week high of $335.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07. The company has a market cap of $83.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.65.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.85. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. The business had revenue of $17.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.64 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare will post 20.58 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program 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 programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.66 dividend. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 13.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $289,299.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $520,474. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total transaction of $110,757.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,452 shares in the company, valued at $789,470.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869 in the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.