HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Given Neutral Rating at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued their neutral rating on shares of HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) in a research note published on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $380.00 target price on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on HCA. Wolfe Research raised HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. KeyCorp lowered 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 report on Monday, October 28th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $392.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.63.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $307.74 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $77.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $352.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $358.35. HCA Healthcare has a 1-year low of $263.22 and a 1-year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid 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 0.86%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 11.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at $18,445,700. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,415,579. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position 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 last quarter. Meritage Group LP acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at $150,548,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth about $869,000. Chiron Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,548,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 1.6% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 225,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,335,000 after acquiring an additional 3,516 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Company Profile

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.