HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Cut to “Underweight” at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $320.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $400.00.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Barclays decreased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $396.00 to $392.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $427.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $380.29.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $325.47 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $373.42 and a 200-day moving average of $358.28. The company has a market cap of $82.44 billion, a PE ratio of 14.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71. HCA Healthcare has a 1-year low of $245.84 and a 1-year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,415,579. This represents a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total transaction of $3,221,340.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,438,494.76. This trade represents a 21.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,155 shares of company stock worth $5,608,990 in the last quarter. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 117.5% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,374 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 53.5% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 59.9% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 28,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,370,000 after purchasing an additional 10,544 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 3,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,328,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 44,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,829,000 after buying an additional 983 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

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.