Mount Lucas Management LP Cuts Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Mount Lucas Management LP trimmed its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 48.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,861 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,251 shares during the quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of HCA. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 2nd quarter valued at about $303,000. Caprock Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 172.0% during the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 11,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,723,000 after buying an additional 7,327 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 108.2% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 7,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,253,000 after buying an additional 3,649 shares during the period. Finally, Umpqua Bank raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 6,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,131,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA traded down $9.77 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $387.98. The stock had a trading volume of 2,248,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,129,325. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.96 and a 52 week high of $403.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $355.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $336.01. The company has a market capitalization of $101.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.67.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.53. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 553.13% and a net margin of 8.40%. The company had revenue of $17.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 22.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 13.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total value of $659,327.85. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 17,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,303,912.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total transaction of $659,327.85. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 17,755 shares in the company, valued at $6,303,912.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 2,987 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $363.51, for a total value of $1,085,804.37. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,436,623.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,844 shares of company stock worth $3,185,932 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Baird R W upgraded HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $396.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $327.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Leerink Partners lifted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $367.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $359.89.

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.