Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Sells 3,237 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. decreased its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 402,653 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,237 shares during the quarter. HCA Healthcare makes up about 9.6% of Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $120,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:HCA opened at $333.68 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $289.98 and a 1 year high of $417.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The stock has a market cap of $82.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $320.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $343.89.

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, topping 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 company earned $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company 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. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HCA. Truist Financial dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James downgraded HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.67.

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.