Brokerages Set HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) PT at $385.67

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, twelve have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $385.67.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HCA. Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 27,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,213,000 after purchasing an additional 5,175 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 204.2% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 2,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,958 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 39,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,027,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at $133,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 124.1% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 42,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,284,000 after acquiring an additional 23,553 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE HCA opened at $341.94 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $323.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $341.86. The firm has a market cap of $84.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

HCA Healthcare Company Profile

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.