HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Shares Gap Down to $314.12

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $314.12, but opened at $297.38. HCA Healthcare shares last traded at $302.35, with a volume of 320,058 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HCA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $356.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $277.00 to $301.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.88.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $81.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $323.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $295.45.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.93 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total value of $1,185,327.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,899 shares in the company, valued at $4,880,993. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.79, for a total transaction of $981,728.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,647,967.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total value of $1,185,327.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,880,993. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 461 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1.0% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $711,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.