HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Trading Up 4.5% – Time to Buy?

Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) traded up 4.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $342.60 and last traded at $345.10. 439,012 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 1,677,116 shares. The stock had previously closed at $330.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on HCA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $316.70 and its 200-day moving average is $347.29.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total value of $3,075,250.47. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 31.7% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,241,000 after purchasing an additional 4,285 shares during the period. Meritage Group LP bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at about $150,548,000. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $18,044,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth approximately $869,000. Finally, NRI Wealth Management LC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,896,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by 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.