Insider Buying: HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Major Shareholder Buys 477 Shares of Stock

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) major shareholder Of America Corp /De/ Bank purchased 477 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $23.29 per share, with a total value of $11,109.33. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

HCA traded down $0.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $342.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,114,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,343,785. 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 52-week low of $289.98 and a 52-week high of $417.14. The company has a market capitalization of $84.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $323.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $341.86.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.90 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HCA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a 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 given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HCA. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at $39,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock worth $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.

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.