HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Major Shareholder Buys $11,109.33 in Stock

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) major shareholder Of America Corp /De/ Bank purchased 477 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $23.29 per share, with a total value of $11,109.33. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA stock opened at $342.25 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $84.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $324.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $340.92. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14.

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

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 13.11%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HCA. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 201.3% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 20.5% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 1,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 61.3% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 4,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,643,000 after buying an additional 1,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 8.6% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 901 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on HCA. Barclays cut their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.67.

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.