HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Price Target Cut to $355.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) had its price objective trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $406.00 to $355.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. TD Cowen lowered their price target on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $475.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Barclays cut their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $396.00 to $392.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Wolfe Research raised HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.63.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of HCA stock opened at $307.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.82, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $352.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $358.35. HCA Healthcare has a 52-week low of $263.22 and a 52-week high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 11.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,170,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 25.8% in the second quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 3,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,054,000 after buying an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. &PARTNERS increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 10,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,458,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, My Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the second quarter worth approximately $1,802,000. 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.