Natixis Advisors L.P. Purchases 14,550 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 15.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 108,964 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,550 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $29,494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,152,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,452,000 after buying an additional 67,332 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,150,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $528,860,000 after buying an additional 30,072 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 5.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,146,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $528,081,000 after buying an additional 102,025 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,594,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,177,000 after acquiring an additional 57,390 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 605,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,101,000 after purchasing an additional 6,368 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA stock opened at $307.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.16. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $215.96 and a fifty-two week high of $335.83. The firm has a market cap of $81.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $322.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $297.73.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 674.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.74 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at approximately $789,470.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Sammie S. Mosier sold 1,645 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total transaction of $513,240.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,385,552. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total transaction of $110,757.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,452 shares in the company, valued at $789,470.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,127 shares of company stock valued at $2,218,364 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $356.00 to $367.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $316.59.

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.