HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Major Shareholder Sells $10,446.30 in Stock

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) major shareholder Of America Corp /De/ Bank sold 477 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.90, for a total value of $10,446.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE HCA opened at $342.25 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $324.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $340.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $289.98 and a fifty-two week high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company earned $5.90 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at $840,286,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 62.0% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,500,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,461,000 after acquiring an additional 574,239 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 85.7% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,061,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,727,000 after acquiring an additional 489,916 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 120.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,264,000 after purchasing an additional 476,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 12,016.0% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 467,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,301,000 after buying an additional 463,579 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HCA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays cut their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

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.