Insider Selling: HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) EVP Sells 1,600 Shares of Stock

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.00, for a total value of $494,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,124 shares in the company, valued at $10,544,316. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $309.42 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $321.53 and a 200-day moving average of $298.85. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $215.96 and a 52-week high of $335.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.16.

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

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth $27,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com raised HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $356.00 to $367.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $316.59.

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.