StockNews.com Upgrades HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) to “Strong-Buy”

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Thursday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on HCA. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $356.00 to $367.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $371.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $316.59.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $307.68 on Thursday. HCA Healthcare has a 12-month low of $215.96 and a 12-month high of $335.83. The company has a market cap of $81.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $322.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $297.17.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 674.49% and a net margin of 8.20%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.93 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare will post 20.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $289,299.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $520,474. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $520,474. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total transaction of $1,305,067.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,138,652.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,127 shares of company stock valued at $2,218,364 in the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,404,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,086,836,000 after buying an additional 456,738 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,186,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,757,181,000 after purchasing an additional 170,560 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,503,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,219,121,000 after buying an additional 1,183,890 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth approximately $694,985,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,152,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,452,000 after buying an additional 67,332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

About HCA Healthcare

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.