HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Purchased by Westpac Banking Corp

Westpac Banking Corp lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 24,706 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,302 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $7,416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth $840,286,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 62.0% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,500,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $450,461,000 after purchasing an additional 574,239 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 120.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,264,000 after buying an additional 476,756 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Group LP acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at approximately $150,548,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $74,121,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on HCA shares. KeyCorp dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays decreased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the business’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $347.48 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $85.55 billion, a PE ratio of 15.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $326.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $340.30.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $5.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 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.