HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $335.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $356.00 to $367.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $316.59.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of HCA stock traded up $4.76 on Friday, hitting $326.65. The stock had a trading volume of 1,030,690 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,095,875. HCA Healthcare has a 52-week low of $215.96 and a 52-week high of $335.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66. The stock's 50 day moving average is $321.06 and its 200-day moving average is $299.91.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 674.49% and a net margin of 8.20%. HCA Healthcare's revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare will post 20.74 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at $520,474. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at $520,474. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total transaction of $110,757.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,452 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $789,470.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,793 shares of company stock valued at $1,198,033. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,989,683 shares of the company's stock worth $5,666,569,000 after purchasing an additional 60,304 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,404,003 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,086,836,000 after acquiring an additional 456,738 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,186,129 shares of the company's stock worth $2,757,181,000 after purchasing an additional 170,560 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,503,918 shares of the company's stock worth $1,219,121,000 after buying an additional 1,183,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth $694,985,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Company Profile

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.