HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday.

HCA has been the topic of several other reports. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $384.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Baird R W cut shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $336.00 price target (down previously from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $381.13.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of HCA opened at $332.19 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $330.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $331.32. The company has a market capitalization of $81.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. HCA Healthcare has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $0.70. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. The firm had revenue of $18.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 1,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,838,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 10,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,153,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $621,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.