Blue Trust Inc. Sells 1,605 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Blue Trust Inc. reduced its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,095 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,605 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $11,734,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HCA. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,148,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Manchester Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Financial Inc. now owns 2,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $727,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 1,149 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 43.4% in the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 859 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth approximately $990,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on HCA shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. 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 research note on Monday, October 28th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA stock opened at $316.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $80.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $289.98 and a 52 week high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $313.30 and its 200 day moving average is $352.55.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.90 EPS. Research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.11%.

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.