HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Reaches New 52-Week High at $343.73

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $343.73 and last traded at $343.29, with a volume of 844077 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $340.48.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on HCA shares. Baird R W raised HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $356.00 to $367.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $327.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.59.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $324.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $316.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 674.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.92 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 6,311 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.88, for a total value of $1,999,829.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,387,253.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 6,311 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.88, for a total transaction of $1,999,829.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,387,253.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 973 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $303,576.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 22,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,977,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,397 shares of company stock worth $3,921,929 over the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Apexium Financial LP acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth $361,000. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,404,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,086,836,000 after purchasing an additional 456,738 shares during the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 226,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,326,000 after purchasing an additional 33,271 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 60.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 365,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,065,000 after buying an additional 138,146 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 199,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,922,000 after acquiring an additional 26,919 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

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.