HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 42.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,447 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,326 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $12,156,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Centerpoint Advisors LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the first quarter worth about $36,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on HCA. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $327.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $367.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,863 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.18, for a total transaction of $607,673.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,397,042.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,863 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.18, for a total transaction of $607,673.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 19,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,397,042.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 6,311 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.88, for a total transaction of $1,999,829.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,387,253.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,397 shares of company stock worth $3,921,929. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA traded up $14.39 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $339.77. 2,767,067 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,146,615. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $215.96 and a fifty-two week high of $348.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $88.99 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.68. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $328.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $321.75.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 674.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 13.16%.

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.