TD Cowen Trims HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Target Price to $360.00

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) had its target price lowered by TD Cowen from $371.00 to $360.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday. Barclays boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $316.59.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

NYSE:HCA traded down $1.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $307.68. 1,044,928 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,099,878. HCA Healthcare has a one year low of $215.96 and a one year high of $335.83. The company has a market capitalization of $81.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $322.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $297.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 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 quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that HCA Healthcare will post 20.74 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total value of $110,757.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,470.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total transaction of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total transaction of $110,757.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,470.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,127 shares of company stock worth $2,218,364 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. abrdn plc grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.8% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 164,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,444,000 after purchasing an additional 7,476 shares during the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at about $10,085,000. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,100,000. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 60,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,425,000 after purchasing an additional 7,476 shares during the period. Finally, Comerica Bank boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 623.3% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 43,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,701,000 after acquiring an additional 37,488 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.