HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Trading Up 5% After Strong Earnings

Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) were up 5% on Monday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $327.81 and last traded at $328.75. Approximately 883,044 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 47% from the average daily volume of 1,654,547 shares. The stock had previously closed at $313.07.

The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 520.98%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.90 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on HCA shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Raymond James lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $384.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total value of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,415,579. This represents a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 322.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,276,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397,883 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Group LP acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at $150,548,000. Canoe Financial LP boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 226,952.9% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 231,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,513,000 after buying an additional 231,492 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 210.6% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 306,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,691,000 after acquiring an additional 208,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 843,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,020,000 after purchasing an additional 193,075 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $313.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $353.13. The company has a market capitalization of $83.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64.

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.