HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Trading 5% Higher After Strong Earnings

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCAGet Free Report)’s stock price shot up 5% during mid-day trading on Monday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $327.81 and last traded at $328.75. 883,044 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 1,654,547 shares. The stock had previously closed at $313.07.

The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 520.98%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.90 earnings per share.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 11.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Truist Financial lowered their price target on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $382.19.

Get Our Latest Research Report on HCA

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total value of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. now owns 8,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,595,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at about $230,000. Choreo LLC increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 6,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,800,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 19,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,864,000 after buying an additional 840 shares during the period. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $825,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 6.1 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $313.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $353.13. The company has a market capitalization of $84.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71.

About HCA Healthcare

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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.

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