HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $398.90, but opened at $370.00. HCA Healthcare shares last traded at $360.88, with a volume of 1,061,756 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on HCA shares. Leerink Partners increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $367.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $475.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $359.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $345.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.15.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $394.72 and its 200 day moving average is $352.30. The company has a market cap of $94.26 billion, a PE ratio of 18.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $17.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.05 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 553.13% and a net margin of 8.40%. HCA Healthcare’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 22.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total transaction of $3,221,340.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares in the company, valued at $11,438,494.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other HCA Healthcare news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,678 shares in the company, valued at $11,438,494.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 2,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $363.51, for a total value of $1,085,804.37. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,436,623.54. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,345 shares of company stock valued at $5,747,945. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bangor Savings Bank grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 112.5% during the second quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 85 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 284.0% in the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 96 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other 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.