HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $411.87 and last traded at $407.22, with a volume of 260978 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $395.78.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com raised HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $345.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $365.65.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 2.7 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11. The company has a market cap of $106.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.75, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.67. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $388.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $347.97.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $17.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.05 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.40% and a return on equity of 553.13%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 22.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total value of $659,327.85. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 17,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,303,912.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 2,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.51, for a total value of $1,085,804.37. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,436,623.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total value of $659,327.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 17,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,303,912.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,202 shares of company stock valued at $6,407,273 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bangor Savings Bank grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 112.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 85 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the second quarter worth $27,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the second quarter valued at $28,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 284.0% in the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 96 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.