HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) is Oak Thistle LLC’s Largest Position

Oak Thistle LLC grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 604.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,750 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,076 shares during the period. HCA Healthcare accounts for about 1.1% of Oak Thistle LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Oak Thistle LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,526,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at $269,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at about $54,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth about $303,000. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $410,000. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HCA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $359.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $438.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Leerink Partners upped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $367.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $359.89.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total transaction of $659,327.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 17,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,303,912.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 2,987 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.51, for a total transaction of $1,085,804.37. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,436,623.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total transaction of $659,327.85. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 17,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,303,912.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,844 shares of company stock worth $3,185,932. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of HCA traded down $9.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $387.98. 2,248,803 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,129,325. The company has a market capitalization of $101.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.67. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $215.96 and a 1-year high of $403.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11. The business has a 50 day moving average of $355.43 and a 200 day moving average of $336.01.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.53. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 553.13% and a net margin of 8.40%. The business had revenue of $17.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 22.5 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

HCA Healthcare Company 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.