HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd.

Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd. lessened its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 37,717 shares of the company’s stock after selling 877 shares during the period. HCA Healthcare accounts for about 2.9% of Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Wilson Asset Management International PTY Ltd.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $11,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial decreased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James lowered HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. One 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE HCA opened at $323.33 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $79.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $317.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $346.50. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share 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 company posted $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 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.