PDS Planning Inc Decreases Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

PDS Planning Inc lessened its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 890 shares of the company’s stock after selling 58 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 11,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,756,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,237,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com raised HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays assumed coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $356.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.05.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of HCA stock opened at $319.43 on Wednesday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $215.96 and a fifty-two week high of $335.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 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. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $324.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $293.19.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. The business had revenue of $17.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.64 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan 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 plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total value of $110,757.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,470.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total transaction of $110,757.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,470.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.79, for a total value of $981,728.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,647,967.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.