Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys Shares of 57,801 HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 57,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,370,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,838,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 10,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,153,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA stock opened at $332.53 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $289.98 and a 52-week high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.14, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $327.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $339.47.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 prior year, the firm earned $5.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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 0.87%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 13.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of HCA Healthcare 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on HCA shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

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.