HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Stock Price Down 4% – Here’s Why

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)’s share price traded down 4% on Friday . The company traded as low as $309.00 and last traded at $312.28. 918,277 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the average session volume of 1,548,730 shares. The stock had previously closed at $325.36.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $396.00 to $392.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.27.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 4.0 %

The company has a market capitalization of $79.16 billion, a PE ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $313.49 and its 200 day moving average is $352.62.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 520.98% and a net margin of 8.52%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 21.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,415,579. This trade represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of HCA Healthcare 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 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. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 322.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Meritage Group LP purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at about $150,548,000. Canoe Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 231,492 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 210.6% during the 3rd 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 boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 29.7% during the fourth 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 during the period. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.