New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 23,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,033,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth $840,286,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 62.0% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,500,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,461,000 after buying an additional 574,239 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 120.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,264,000 after acquiring an additional 476,756 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Group LP bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at approximately $150,548,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth approximately $74,121,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 in the company, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on HCA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America reduced 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp cut their price target on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $341.94 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.56, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $323.90 and its 200 day moving average 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business posted $5.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 13.11%.

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.