CenterBook Partners LP Invests $1.96 Million in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 6,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,962,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. IHT Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth approximately $207,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 6,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,737,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 31.7% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,241,000 after acquiring an additional 4,285 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 22.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 571,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,467,000 after purchasing an additional 104,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 10,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,253,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $339.10 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $327.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $337.50. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $289.98 and a 52-week high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company’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 value of $3,075,250.47. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HCA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays decreased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on 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, Bank of America cut their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

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.