HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Thompson Investment Management Inc.

Thompson Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 24.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,425 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,750 shares during the period. Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 31.7% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,241,000 after acquiring an additional 4,285 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Group LP purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at $150,548,000. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth about $18,044,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth about $869,000. Finally, NRI Wealth Management LC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth about $2,896,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on HCA shares. Raymond James downgraded HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp cut their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $321.95 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $313.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $353.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $81.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 12.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,579. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,363,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at $18,445,700. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare 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.