HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Purchased by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 29.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 196,852 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 44,385 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned about 0.07% of HCA Healthcare worth $53,284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,250,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth about $2,687,000. Robbins Farley lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 5,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,487,000 after purchasing an additional 712 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 23,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,448,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 58.9% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 261,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,731,000 after buying an additional 96,889 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock traded up $8.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $305.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,651,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 942,018. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $324.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $292.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.18. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $215.96 and a one year high of $335.83. The stock has a market cap of $80.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.65.

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

HCA Healthcare announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 yield of 0.87%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $520,474. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total value of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,138,652.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were 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 owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HCA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.05.

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.