Spire Wealth Management Grows Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 23.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,913 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,851 shares during the quarter. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HCA. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 8,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,297,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 0.7% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,652,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.4% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

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

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE HCA opened at $330.24 on Monday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The company has a market capitalization of $83.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $313.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $353.29. 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 (NYSE:HCA) last posted its 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 net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. 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 0.87%. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen cut their price target on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on 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, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

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.