Brokerages Set HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Target Price at $387.13

Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation, eleven have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $387.13.

HCA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $427.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $475.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Raymond James lowered HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,445,700. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,415,579. This represents a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 322.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,276,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397,883 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the second quarter worth approximately $131,527,000. Darsana Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 53.3% during the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $369,472,000 after acquiring an additional 400,000 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Group LP acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at $150,548,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 210.6% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 306,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,691,000 after purchasing an additional 208,015 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE HCA opened at $313.93 on Wednesday. HCA Healthcare has a twelve month low of $263.22 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $79.52 billion, a PE ratio of 14.01, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.63. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $356.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $358.27.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 11.85%.

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.