Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Trims Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lowered its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 4.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,099 shares of the company’s stock after selling 54 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 25.5% during the 3rd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 1,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 15.4% during the third quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 2.5% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,374,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 1.8% during the third quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 4.4% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,282,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA stock traded down $0.66 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $407.51. The company had a trading volume of 256,957 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,133,905. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $215.96 and a fifty-two week high of $417.14. The company has a market cap of $106.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $393.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $351.69.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.53. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.40% and a return on equity of 553.13%. The company had revenue of $17.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 22.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total transaction of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,438,494.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,678 shares in the company, valued at $11,438,494.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher F. Wyatt sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.20, for a total transaction of $1,440,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,449 shares in the company, valued at $14,569,729.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,202 shares of company stock valued at $6,407,273 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $438.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $345.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $392.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Leerink Partners raised their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $367.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $367.15.

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.