HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA – Get Free Report) and Precipio (NASDAQ:PRPO – Get Free Report) are both healthcare companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for HCA Healthcare and Precipio, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| HCA Healthcare | 1 | 7 | 16 | 0 | 2.62 |
| Precipio | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus price target of $480.13, indicating a potential downside of 5.08%. Given HCA Healthcare’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe HCA Healthcare is more favorable than Precipio.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
62.7% of HCA Healthcare shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 10.4% of Precipio shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of HCA Healthcare shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 16.6% of Precipio shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares HCA Healthcare and Precipio”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| HCA Healthcare | $75.60 billion | 1.40 | $6.78 billion | $30.18 | 16.76 |
| Precipio | $24.05 million | 1.85 | -$360,000.00 | ($0.64) | -38.75 |
HCA Healthcare has higher revenue and earnings than Precipio. Precipio is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than HCA Healthcare, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility & Risk
HCA Healthcare has a beta of 1.11, indicating that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Precipio has a beta of 1.45, indicating that its share price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares HCA Healthcare and Precipio’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| HCA Healthcare | 8.61% | -198.52% | 10.81% |
| Precipio | -4.12% | -7.89% | -5.41% |
Summary
HCA Healthcare beats Precipio on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About HCA Healthcare
HCA Healthcare is a healthcare services company that operates hospitals and other care facilities. Its services include inpatient and outpatient care, emergency treatment, surgery, diagnostic services and specialized care across areas such as cancer and cardiovascular medicine. The company serves patients in the United States and the United Kingdom through its network of hospitals and outpatient facilities, including surgery centers, urgent care clinics and physician practices. Founded in 1968, HCA Healthcare is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.
About Precipio
Precipio, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRPO) is a biotechnology and medical diagnostics company focused on improving the diagnosis of cancer and other complex diseases. The company combines specialized pathology expertise with laboratory testing and diagnostic technologies intended to help physicians identify disease accurately and support treatment decisions. Precipio provides clinical laboratory services in areas including hematopathology, cytogenetics and molecular diagnostics. Its work is particularly focused on blood cancers and other hematologic disorders, where accurate classification can be challenging.
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