AlphaStar Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

AlphaStar Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,742 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,010 shares during the quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth $41,000. Canoe Financial LP purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth about $41,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE:HCA opened at $321.95 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $313.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $353.34. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The stock has a market cap of $81.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of 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 cut HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America dropped their target price on 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 lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In related news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total value of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at $2,415,579. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,363,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,445,700. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.