HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Thursday.

HCA has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $356.00 to $367.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded HCA Healthcare from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and upped their price target for the stock from $277.00 to $301.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on HCA Healthcare from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $316.59.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

HCA opened at $307.68 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.38 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26. HCA Healthcare has a twelve month low of $215.96 and a twelve month high of $335.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $322.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $297.17.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 674.49% and a net margin of 8.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that HCA Healthcare will post 20.74 EPS 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 paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

HCA Healthcare announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total transaction of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,138,652.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,138,652.50. The sale 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 dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,127 shares of company stock valued at $2,218,364. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. abrdn plc increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 4.8% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 164,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,444,000 after acquiring an additional 7,476 shares during the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth about $10,085,000. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth $1,100,000. DNB Asset Management AS increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 60,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,425,000 after acquiring an additional 7,476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 623.3% in the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 43,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,701,000 after purchasing an additional 37,488 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.