Blair William & Co. IL Has $2.63 Million Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Blair William & Co. IL cut its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,750 shares of the company’s stock after selling 820 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,503,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,351,830,000 after acquiring an additional 23,177 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 11.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,669,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,842,000 after buying an additional 174,946 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 12.0% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,339,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,467,000 after acquiring an additional 143,995 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,149,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,590 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $345.86 on Wednesday. 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 52-week low of $289.98 and a 52-week high of $417.14. The firm has a market cap of $85.15 billion, a PE ratio of 15.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $325.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $340.25.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.90 EPS. On average, analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on HCA. Barclays decreased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

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.