Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Buys 221 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,042 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 67.8% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 6,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,194,000 after purchasing an additional 2,760 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 2nd quarter worth about $514,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 26.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 71,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,073,000 after acquiring an additional 15,227 shares during the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 6.8% during the second quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 751 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,992,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HCA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $382.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,415,579. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 6.1 %

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $332.18 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $313.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $353.13. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $281.61 and a 1-year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 520.98%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 21.75 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.85%.

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.