Stephens Inc. AR Decreases Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Stephens Inc. AR lessened its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock after selling 87 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,631,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth $41,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at $2,415,579. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,363,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James lowered HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of HCA stock opened at $323.71 on Wednesday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12-month low of $289.98 and a 12-month high of $417.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $313.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $353.26. The company has a market capitalization of $81.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 12.02%.

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.