HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Given "Outperform" Rating at Leerink Partners

Key Points

• Leerink Partners reaffirmed an “Outperform” rating on HCA Healthcare and set a $492 price target, implying approximately 14.1% upside from the reported $431.14 share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive: 14 analysts rate HCA a Buy, eight rate it Hold, and one rates it Sell, resulting in a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $462.27 target price.
• HCA exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $7.59 in earnings per share and $20.23 billion in revenue; revenue increased 8.7% year over year. Institutional investors own approximately 62.7% of the company.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating restated by equities research analysts at Leerink Partners in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $492.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partners' target price would suggest a potential upside of 14.12% from the stock's current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on HCA. Truist Financial reduced their target price on HCA Healthcare from $535.00 to $495.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $558.00 to $485.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $450.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $462.27.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA stock traded up $2.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $431.14. The company had a trading volume of 180,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,333,720. The company has a market capitalization of $93.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.10. HCA Healthcare has a 1-year low of $353.99 and a 1-year high of $556.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $406.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $429.79.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The company reported $7.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.56 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $20.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.76 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.77% and a negative return on equity of 244.79%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare will post 29.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 69,190 shares of the company's stock worth $26,976,000 after purchasing an additional 7,570 shares during the last quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 8.0% during the second quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 2,943 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 591,578 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,650,000 after purchasing an additional 2,820 shares during the period. Darsana Capital Partners LP boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 46.7% during the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,100,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $428,879,000 after purchasing an additional 350,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 8.0% in the second quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,585 shares of the company's stock valued at $618,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company's stock.

About HCA Healthcare

HCA Healthcare, Inc NYSE: HCA is a healthcare services company that operates hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Its network provides a broad range of medical services, including emergency care, inpatient and outpatient treatment, surgery, diagnostic services, and maternity care.

The company also operates ambulatory surgery centers, urgent care facilities, physician practices, and other outpatient locations. HCA Healthcare serves patients through facilities located across the United States, as well as through HCA Healthcare UK, its healthcare operations in the United Kingdom.

HCA Healthcare was founded in 1968 by Dr.

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