HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Downgraded to “Buy” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Monday morning.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $376.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Leerink Partners increased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $367.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $379.11.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $363.16 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71. The stock has a market cap of $91.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.68. The business’s 50 day moving average is $392.48 and its 200 day moving average is $355.34. HCA Healthcare has a 12-month low of $226.44 and a 12-month high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 11.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,438,494.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $325,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 13.4% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,168,000 after buying an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 14,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,844,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $103,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 23.8% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 367,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,436,000 after purchasing an additional 70,745 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.