Bank of America Has Lowered Expectations for HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Stock Price

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) had its price objective cut by Bank of America from $380.00 to $370.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

HCA has been the topic of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. TD Cowen dropped their price target 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. KeyCorp dropped their target price 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. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $382.19.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA stock opened at $327.80 on Monday. HCA Healthcare has a 12 month low of $289.98 and a 12 month high of $417.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $313.28 and its 200 day moving average is $353.27.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter last year, the business posted $5.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare will post 21.75 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 11.85%.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at $2,415,579. This represents a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HCA. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth about $39,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth $41,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.