HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Shares Down 4% – Time to Sell?

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)’s stock price fell 4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $309.00 and last traded at $312.28. 918,277 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 1,548,730 shares. The stock had previously closed at $325.36.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HCA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $392.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $396.00 to $392.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Raymond James lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.27.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 4.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $79.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $313.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $352.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 520.98% and a net margin of 8.52%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 21.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,363,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at $2,415,579. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Canoe Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth about $44,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.