DGS Capital Management LLC Trims Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

DGS Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,708 shares of the company’s stock after selling 163 shares during the quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Canoe Financial LP purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth about $41,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA stock opened at $312.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $79.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $314.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $352.64. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $279.93 and a one year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 520.98% and a net margin of 8.52%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 21.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at $2,415,579. This trade represents a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on HCA shares. Raymond James downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays decreased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $396.00 to $392.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of 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. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.27.

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.