HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Reaches New 12-Month High at $408.00

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $408.00 and last traded at $408.00, with a volume of 138 shares. The stock had previously closed at $404.66.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HCA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Truist Financial upped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Baird R W raised shares of HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $376.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $359.89.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.2 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $370.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $340.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11. The company has a market cap of $107.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.67.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.53. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.40% and a return on equity of 553.13%. The company had revenue of $17.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 22.46 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 13.16%.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total transaction of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total value of $659,327.85. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 17,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,303,912.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total transaction of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,438,494.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,202 shares of company stock valued at $6,407,273 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HCA. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 112.5% during the second quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 85 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 284.0% in the second quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 96 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

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.