HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Rating Lowered to “Underweight” at Wells Fargo & Company

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $320.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $400.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would suggest a potential downside of 2.72% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on HCA. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. KeyCorp cut their target price 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $392.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $396.00 to $392.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $380.29.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA stock opened at $328.95 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $376.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $358.74. HCA Healthcare has a one year low of $245.84 and a one year high of $417.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.77, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. This represents a 21.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 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 transaction, the insider now owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at $2,415,579. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,155 shares of company stock valued at $5,608,990 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 322.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,276,909,000 after buying an additional 2,397,883 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 2nd quarter valued at about $131,527,000. Darsana Capital Partners LP grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 53.3% during the second quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $369,472,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Group LP acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at $150,548,000. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the first quarter worth $95,882,000. 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.