HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Lowered to "Hold" Rating by Wall Street Zen

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Baird R W cut HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $336.00 price target (down from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $404.00 target price (up from $376.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Stephens raised HCA Healthcare to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Barclays set a $416.00 target price on HCA Healthcare and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $395.71.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

NYSE:HCA traded up $3.91 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $383.21. 1,172,513 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,466,937. The company has a market capitalization of $92.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.49. HCA Healthcare has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business has a 50 day moving average of $366.55 and a 200 day moving average of $337.09.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $0.70. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 1,063.91% and a net margin of 8.07%. The firm had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.36 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.32, for a total value of $5,797,585.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,646 shares in the company, valued at $4,670,420.72. This trade represents a 55.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at about $840,286,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 40,527.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,703,907 shares of the company's stock worth $5,887,850,000 after buying an additional 1,699,713 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 1st quarter worth approximately $569,217,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6,237.9% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,350,933 shares of the company's stock worth $466,815,000 after buying an additional 1,329,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 83.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,399,372 shares of the company's stock worth $829,104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091,416 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.