Cantor Fitzgerald Reiterates Overweight Rating for HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA)

Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated their overweight rating on shares of HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $405.00 target price on the stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. 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 research note on Monday, January 6th. 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. Raymond James cut HCA Healthcare from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $382.19.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 6.1 %

NYSE HCA traded up $19.11 on Monday, hitting $332.18. 2,805,798 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,773,718. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71. HCA Healthcare has a twelve month low of $281.61 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $313.49 and a 200 day moving average of $353.13. The company has a market capitalization of $84.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the business earned $5.90 EPS. As a group, analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is 11.85%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 31.7% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,816 shares of the company's stock worth $7,241,000 after acquiring an additional 4,285 shares during the period. Meritage Group LP bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $150,548,000. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at about $18,044,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at $869,000. Finally, NRI Wealth Management LC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth $2,896,000. Institutional investors 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.