Royal Bank of Canada Lowers HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Price Target to $384.00

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) had its target price trimmed by Royal Bank of Canada from $405.00 to $384.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

HCA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Raymond James cut HCA Healthcare from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $382.19.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE:HCA traded up $19.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $332.18. 2,805,821 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,778,044. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $313.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $353.13. HCA Healthcare has a one year low of $281.61 and a one year high of $417.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.12.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $5.90 EPS. Analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare will post 21.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,415,579. This represents a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,445,700. This represents 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 322.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company's stock worth $1,276,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397,883 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Group LP purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $150,548,000. Canoe Financial LP lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 226,952.9% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 231,594 shares of the company's stock worth $69,513,000 after purchasing an additional 231,492 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 210.6% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 306,796 shares of the company's stock valued at $124,691,000 after buying an additional 208,015 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 29.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 843,764 shares of the company's stock valued at $253,020,000 after acquiring an additional 193,075 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.