HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $467.61

Key Points

• Analysts remain broadly positive: HCA Healthcare has a “Moderate Buy” consensus from 24 analysts, with 16 buy, seven hold, and one sell rating. The average 12-month price target is $467.61.
• Recent results exceeded expectations: Quarterly earnings were $7.59 per share versus the $7.56 consensus, while revenue reached $20.23 billion, up 8.7% year over year and above estimates.
• Institutional ownership is substantial: Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of HCA shares, with several major investors increasing their positions. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.78, yielding about 0.7% annually.

Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-four research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $467.61.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HCA shares. Raymond James Financial set a $528.00 price objective on HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $535.00 to $495.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on HCA Healthcare from $435.00 to $496.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $476.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $396.00 to $393.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 27th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 171.7% during the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 6,242 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,954,000 after acquiring an additional 3,945 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 27.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 467,796 shares of the company's stock worth $221,380,000 after purchasing an additional 100,764 shares during the period. SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $75,534,000. OP Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the first quarter valued at approximately $12,883,000. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 46.7% during the second quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,100,000 shares of the company's stock worth $428,879,000 after buying an additional 350,000 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 2.2%

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $458.39 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $426.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $419.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.10. HCA Healthcare has a 52-week low of $353.99 and a 52-week high of $556.52.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The company reported $7.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.56 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $20.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.76 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.77% and a negative return on equity of 244.79%. HCA Healthcare's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare will post 29.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th were paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is 10.45%.

About HCA Healthcare

HCA Healthcare, Inc is a provider of healthcare services in the United States. Through its network of hospitals and other healthcare facilities, the company delivers services including emergency and urgent care, surgery, inpatient and outpatient treatment, women's and children's care, cardiology, oncology, orthopedics, and behavioral health services.

HCA Healthcare also operates physician practices, ambulatory surgery centers, freestanding emergency rooms, diagnostic facilities, and other outpatient care sites.

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