Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 29.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 66,557 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,146 shares during the quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $19,977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ERn Financial LLC lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 1,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,122,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 12,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,814,000 after buying an additional 719 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at about $268,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE:HCA opened at $303.60 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $319.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $353.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71. The company has a market cap of $76.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $276.50 and a 52 week high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on HCA. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,363,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,415,579. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.