HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Price Target Lowered to $360.00 at TD Cowen

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) had its target price dropped by stock analysts at TD Cowen from $371.00 to $360.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. TD Cowen’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 16.05% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $356.00 to $367.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $316.59.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock traded down $1.22 on Tuesday, reaching $310.20. 205,904 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,097,533. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $323.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $295.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.47, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26. HCA Healthcare has a twelve month low of $215.96 and a twelve month high of $335.83.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 674.49%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.93 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare will post 20.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total value of $110,757.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,470.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total transaction of $110,757.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $789,470.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total transaction of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth $25,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 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.