HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Key Points

• Wells Fargo raised HCA Healthcare’s price target to $468 from $381 while maintaining an “equal weight” rating, implying roughly 1% downside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive: 16 analysts rate the stock a Buy, seven a Hold and one a Sell, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $479.48.
• HCA exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $7.22 in earnings per share versus the $6.65 consensus and $19.85 billion in revenue, up 3.6% year over year.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $381.00 to $468.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective indicates a potential downside of 1.04% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $635.00 to $579.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 27th. Leerink Partners restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $492.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $476.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $479.48.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.1%

HCA opened at $472.94 on Monday. HCA Healthcare has a 12 month low of $353.99 and a 12 month high of $556.52. The business's 50-day moving average price is $437.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $444.90. The company has a market cap of $98.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.11.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $7.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.65 by $0.57. HCA Healthcare had a negative return on equity of 198.52% and a net margin of 8.61%. The company had revenue of $19.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.96 EPS. HCA Healthcare's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare will post 30.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,069,974,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the second quarter worth $410,992,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the second quarter worth $371,138,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 20.5% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,707,473 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,835,397,000 after buying an additional 799,761 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 2nd quarter valued at $238,457,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Company Profile

HCA Healthcare, Inc is a healthcare services company that operates hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, emergency care facilities, physician practices and other healthcare sites. Its facilities provide a broad range of services, including acute and emergency care, surgery, cardiology, oncology, women's and children's services, behavioral health and outpatient care.

The company serves patients primarily across the United States through a network of healthcare facilities in numerous states.

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