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 report report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $320.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $400.00.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on HCA. TD Cowen lowered their price target on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $427.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $392.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp reduced their target price on HCA Healthcare from $475.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $380.29.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA opened at $325.50 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71. HCA Healthcare has a 12 month low of $245.84 and a 12 month high of $417.14. The company’s fifty day moving average is $377.85 and its 200-day moving average is $358.72. The firm has a market cap of $82.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.62, 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. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,438,494.76. This trade represents a 21.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at $18,445,700. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,155 shares of company stock valued at $5,608,990 in the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at $688,000. Unigestion Holding SA boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 72.2% during the third quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 1,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 669 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 4,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,863,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 14.0% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $966,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chiron Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth approximately $3,548,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by 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.