Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC Makes New Investment in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 92.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.79, for a total value of $981,728.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,929 shares in the company, valued at $7,647,967.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.79, for a total value of $981,728.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,647,967.91. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total transaction of $1,185,327.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,880,993. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock traded down $8.74 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $313.89. 1,623,133 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 786,249. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $320.15 and a 200-day moving average of $280.61. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $215.96 and a 52-week high of $335.83.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.85. The business had revenue of $17.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.51 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HCA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein cut HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Raymond James boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.05.

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.