Oppenheimer Increases HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Price Target to $345.00

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) had its target price raised by Oppenheimer from $330.00 to $345.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James boosted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and raised their price target for the stock from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $316.59.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA opened at $309.44 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $323.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $296.64. 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.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.93 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare will post 20.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors 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 yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 13.16%.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total value of $203,450.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,491.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Sammie S. Mosier sold 1,645 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $513,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,385,552. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total transaction of $203,450.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,491.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,779 shares of company stock valued at $2,421,814. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth $206,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.2% in the third quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $689,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.6% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,090,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 1.9% in the third quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 37,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,280,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.