Xponance Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,093 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $7,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at $25,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HCA. StockNews.com lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $277.00 to $301.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.05.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 2.7 %

HCA stock opened at $305.11 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $324.88 and a 200 day moving average of $291.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.70 billion, a PE ratio of 16.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.96 and a 52 week high of $335.83.

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

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.66 dividend. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $520,474. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total value of $203,450.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,491.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869 in the last three months. Company 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.