HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Stephens Consulting LLC

Stephens Consulting LLC lowered its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 14.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,084 shares of the company’s stock after selling 176 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth about $694,985,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,503,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,219,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183,890 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 112.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,772,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,815,000 after purchasing an additional 936,823 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,404,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,086,836,000 after buying an additional 456,738 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 230.5% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 553,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,747,000 after buying an additional 385,854 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HCA. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Baird R W upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $371.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $396.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.53.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock traded down $22.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $321.28. The company had a trading volume of 4,016,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 932,511. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.02. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $215.96 and a 1-year high of $344.20. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $325.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $317.82. The stock has a market cap of $84.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.69.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 674.49% and a net margin of 8.20%. The business had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 13.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,863 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.18, for a total value of $607,673.34. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,612 shares in the company, valued at $6,397,042.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,863 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.18, for a total transaction of $607,673.34. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,397,042.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 973 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $303,576.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,977,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,397 shares of company stock valued at $3,921,929 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.