Korea Investment CORP Sells 25,663 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Korea Investment CORP lessened its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 190,925 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,663 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned approximately 0.08% of HCA Healthcare worth $57,306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on HCA shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays lowered their target price on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.67.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total value of $3,075,250.47. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $341.94 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $289.98 and a 52 week high of $417.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.56, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $323.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $341.86.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 13.11%.

About HCA Healthcare

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.