Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Has $112.76 Million Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. cut its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 416,591 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,535 shares during the quarter. HCA Healthcare comprises approximately 9.7% of Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. owned approximately 0.16% of HCA Healthcare worth $112,763,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. abrdn plc lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 164,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,444,000 after purchasing an additional 7,476 shares during the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth $10,085,000. DNB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 14.1% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 60,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,425,000 after buying an additional 7,476 shares in the last quarter. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth $1,100,000. Finally, Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 623.3% during the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 43,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,701,000 after buying an additional 37,488 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total transaction of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,138,652.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total transaction of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,138,652.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total value of $1,185,327.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,880,993. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869 over the last ninety days. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays began coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $356.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.05.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock traded up $4.21 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $309.32. The company had a trading volume of 495,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,080,900. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $324.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $292.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $81.81 billion, a PE ratio of 16.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.65. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $215.96 and a fifty-two week high of $335.83.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.85. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. The firm had revenue of $17.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.64 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare announced that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.91%.

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.