HCA Healthcare Inc (NYSE:HCA) – SunTrust Banks lifted their FY2019 earnings estimates for shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note issued on Tuesday, April 30th, Zacks Investment Research reports. SunTrust Banks analyst D. Macdonald now anticipates that the company will post earnings of $10.38 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $10.04. SunTrust Banks currently has a “Buy” rating and a $175.00 target price on the stock. SunTrust Banks also issued estimates for HCA Healthcare’s FY2020 earnings at $11.22 EPS.
HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.66. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 7.71% and a negative return on equity of 112.65%. The business had revenue of $12.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.18 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year.
Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $164.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank lifted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James raised shares of HCA Healthcare from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $158.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.00.
NYSE:HCA opened at $123.84 on Friday. HCA Healthcare has a one year low of $101.30 and a one year high of $147.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.39 billion, a PE ratio of 12.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.75.
A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Accident Compensation Corp grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Accident Compensation Corp now owns 47,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,900 shares during the last quarter. Cerebellum GP LLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 27.1% during the 1st quarter. Cerebellum GP LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 32.1% during the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 5,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $661,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 376,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,105,000 after purchasing an additional 74,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 1st quarter worth approximately $206,000. 70.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
In other HCA Healthcare news, insider Jon M. Foster sold 44,281 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.28, for a total transaction of $5,414,680.68. Following the sale, the insider now owns 96,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,745,238.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.38%.
HCA Healthcare Company Profile
HCA Healthcare, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides health care services. The company operates general, acute care hospitals that offer 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 services.