HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Acquired by UniSuper Management Pty Ltd

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 59,310 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,616 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $17,802,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HCA. WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $270,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 294,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,407,000 after acquiring an additional 18,672 shares during the last quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at about $840,000. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 58,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 1,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 1.4 %

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $341.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $289.98 and a 1 year high of $417.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $323.90 and its 200-day moving average is $341.86. The company has a market cap of $84.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.56, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its earnings results 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $5.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm 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 positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HCA. Barclays reduced their price target on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America lowered their price target on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

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.