Vista Investment Partners II LLC Makes New Investment in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Vista Investment Partners II LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,123 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,237,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,838,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 2.4% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 10,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,153,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 2,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HCA shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $330.11 on Monday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $289.98 and a 1 year high of $417.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $316.70 and its 200 day moving average is $347.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $81.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company posted $5.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

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.