Independent Advisor Alliance Purchases 72 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Independent Advisor Alliance raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 948 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. abrdn plc raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 4.8% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 164,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,444,000 after purchasing an additional 7,476 shares in the last quarter. Apexium Financial LP acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth about $361,000. Todd Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 226,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,326,000 after buying an additional 33,271 shares in the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth approximately $10,085,000. Finally, Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,100,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $520,474. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $520,474. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 6,311 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.88, for a total transaction of $1,999,829.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,387,253.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,617 shares of company stock valued at $4,321,986. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.8 %

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $318.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.43 billion, a PE ratio of 15.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company’s 50-day moving average is $319.38 and its 200-day moving average is $304.51. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $215.96 and a fifty-two week high of $335.83.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 674.49%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.84 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on HCA shares. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $371.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $317.00.

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.