Stephens Reaffirms “Overweight” Rating for HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 25th, 2023

Stephens reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA – Get Rating) in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $283.00 price objective on the stock.

HCA has been the topic of several other reports. Cowen boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $238.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, January 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $270.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday. Mizuho raised their target price on HCA Healthcare from $279.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $217.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $285.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $292.42.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of HCA stock opened at $286.25 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $79.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare has a twelve month low of $164.47 and a twelve month high of $294.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $258.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $243.46.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 21st. The company reported $4.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.99 by $0.94. The business had revenue of $15.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.26 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 9.37% and a negative return on equity of 1,260.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.12 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare will post 17.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 16th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 15th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.04%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Friday, January 27th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 1,734 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Friday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.61, for a total transaction of $457,099.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,626,082.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP P. Martin Paslick sold 2,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $738,925.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 24,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,776,825. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 1,734 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.61, for a total transaction of $457,099.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,962 shares in the company, valued at $2,626,082.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 88,159 shares of company stock valued at $22,688,959. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Norges Bank bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth approximately $547,104,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 32.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,039,618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,689,226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,734,194 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 51.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,229,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $534,917,000 after purchasing an additional 758,127 shares in the last quarter. MFN Partners Management LP grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 102.9% during the 1st quarter. MFN Partners Management LP now owns 1,261,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,081,000 after buying an additional 639,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 152.3% in the third quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 740,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,038,000 after buying an additional 446,839 shares in the last quarter. 64.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About HCA Healthcare

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HCA Healthcare, Inc is a health care services company engaged in operating hospitals, freestanding surgery centers and emergency care facilities, urgent care facilities, walk-in clinics, diagnostic and imaging centers, radiation and oncology therapy centers, comprehensive rehabilitation and physical therapy centers, physician practices, home health, hospice, outpatient physical therapy home and community-based services providers, and various other facilities.