HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Stock Price Down 0.9%

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)’s stock price dropped 0.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $310.15 and last traded at $311.03. Approximately 1,511,037 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 43% from the average daily volume of 1,058,563 shares. The stock had previously closed at $313.89.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.05.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $320.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $280.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.70 billion, a PE ratio of 16.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.65.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.85. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. The business had revenue of $17.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.66 dividend. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total transaction of $1,185,327.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,880,993. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total transaction of $1,185,327.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,880,993. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total value of $1,305,067.02. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,138,652.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,404,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,086,836,000 after purchasing an additional 456,738 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,186,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,757,181,000 after buying an additional 170,560 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,503,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,219,121,000 after buying an additional 1,183,890 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,812,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,002,773,000 after buying an additional 64,029 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,315,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $897,432,000 after purchasing an additional 188,377 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.