Cozad Asset Management Inc. Purchases 126 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,044 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $9,018,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,838,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 2.4% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $623,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 10,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,153,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 1.6% in the third quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 2,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on HCA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays lowered their target price on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James cut HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA opened at $319.82 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $78.74 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $319.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $344.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. 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 quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the business posted $5.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 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.