Brokerages Set HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Target Price at $391.27

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $385.27.

HCA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $392.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Barclays dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $396.00 to $392.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC raised its position 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 during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,669,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,842,000 after purchasing an additional 174,946 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,487,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $604,511,000 after acquiring an additional 41,190 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,339,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $544,467,000 after acquiring an additional 143,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 53.3% in the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $369,472,000 after acquiring an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 2.4 %

NYSE:HCA opened at $303.64 on Friday. HCA Healthcare has a 1 year low of $276.50 and a 1 year high of $417.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71. The stock has a market cap of $76.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.63, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $321.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $353.71.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.85%.

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.