HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Reaches New 1-Year High at $343.73

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $343.73 and last traded at $343.29, with a volume of 844077 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $340.48.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HCA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. 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 report on Monday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $396.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $327.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $371.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.53.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $84.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.69. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $325.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $317.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. The company 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.92 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,863 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.18, for a total transaction of $607,673.34. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 19,612 shares in the company, valued at $6,397,042.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,863 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.18, for a total transaction of $607,673.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,397,042.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.00, for a total transaction of $494,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,544,316. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,397 shares of company stock worth $3,921,929 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.