HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Receives $382.19 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, twelve have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $382.19.

HCA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays cut 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. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James lowered HCA Healthcare from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total value of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at $2,415,579. This trade represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,363,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 322.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company's stock worth $1,276,909,000 after buying an additional 2,397,883 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Group LP acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $150,548,000. Canoe Financial LP raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 226,952.9% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 231,594 shares of the company's stock worth $69,513,000 after acquiring an additional 231,492 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 210.6% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 306,796 shares of the company's stock worth $124,691,000 after acquiring an additional 208,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 29.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 843,764 shares of the company's stock valued at $253,020,000 after buying an additional 193,075 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE HCA traded up $7.82 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $335.44. 129,458 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,692,868. HCA Healthcare has a 52-week low of $289.98 and a 52-week high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company's 50-day moving average is $313.18 and its 200-day moving average is $353.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.06, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 520.98% and a net margin of 8.52%. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.90 EPS. Analysts expect that HCA Healthcare will post 21.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is currently 11.85%.

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.