Oppenheimer Increases HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Price Target to $345.00

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) had its price objective hoisted by equities research analysts at Oppenheimer from $330.00 to $345.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer’s target price indicates a potential upside of 11.36% from the company’s current price.

HCA has been the subject of several other reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $316.59.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $309.80 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $323.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $296.11. HCA Healthcare has a 1-year low of $215.96 and a 1-year high of $335.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.35. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 674.49%. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.93 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare will post 20.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total transaction of $203,450.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,491.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total value of $203,450.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,491.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,779 shares of company stock worth $2,421,814. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,327,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 1st quarter worth $317,000. Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 1st quarter worth $597,000. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,040,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 4,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. 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.