HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $398.90, but opened at $370.00. HCA Healthcare shares last traded at $360.88, with a volume of 1,061,756 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $392.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $359.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.15.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 9.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $94.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $394.72 and a 200 day moving average of $352.30.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.53. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.40% and a return on equity of 553.13%. The firm had revenue of $17.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.29 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 22.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Christopher F. Wyatt sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.20, for a total transaction of $1,440,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,449 shares in the company, valued at $14,569,729.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,438,494.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,345 shares of company stock worth $5,747,945 over the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 112.5% during the second quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 85 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 284.0% during 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 during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the second quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

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.