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

Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the nineteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $381.67.

A number of research firms have issued reports on HCA. Baird R W lowered HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $336.00 price objective (down previously from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of HCA stock traded up $3.38 on Tuesday, hitting $334.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,830,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,385,363. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $328.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $334.61. HCA Healthcare has a fifty-two week low of $289.98 and a fifty-two week high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.90 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 1,039 shares of the company's stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,787 shares of the company's stock worth $3,838,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 10,592 shares of the company's stock worth $3,153,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,195 shares of the company's stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.