Evolution Advisers Inc. Has $117,000 Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Evolution Advisers Inc. cut its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 16.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 390 shares of the company’s stock after selling 77 shares during the period. Evolution Advisers Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the third quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 8,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,297,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.8% in the third quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.6% in the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 5,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,086,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. BayBridge Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.0% in the third quarter. BayBridge Capital Group LLC now owns 3,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,416,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.4% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $623,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,445,700. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HCA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:HCA opened at $323.71 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $313.49 and a 200-day moving average of $353.04. The company has a market cap of $81.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14.

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

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.02%.

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.