HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Shares Down 6% – What’s Next?

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)’s stock price dropped 6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $357.08 and last traded at $361.23. Approximately 400,171 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 1,439,434 shares. The stock had previously closed at $384.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on HCA shares. Stephens raised HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $336.00 target price (down previously from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays set a $416.00 price objective on HCA Healthcare and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $355.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $392.47.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.61 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $355.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $331.71.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.75 by $0.70. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. The business had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.81%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.32, for a total transaction of $5,797,585.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,670,420.72. This represents a 55.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 120.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,264,000 after purchasing an additional 476,756 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth $1,021,000. ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth about $1,511,000. Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 3,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,102,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 117.5% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 92,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,762,000 after acquiring an additional 49,968 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.