Weaver Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Weaver Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 15.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,614 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Weaver Capital Management LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 57.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,792,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $931,342,000 after buying an additional 1,019,750 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 2nd quarter worth $131,527,000. Darsana Capital Partners LP boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 53.3% during the second quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $369,472,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the first quarter valued at about $95,882,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 30.4% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 721,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,581,000 after acquiring an additional 168,093 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE HCA opened at $408.17 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.94. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12 month low of $215.96 and a 12 month high of $417.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $393.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $351.69. The company has a market capitalization of $106.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.67.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $17.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 22.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HCA. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays lifted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $376.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $365.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $392.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Leerink Partners boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $367.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five 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 data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $367.15.

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.