Of America Corp /De/ Bank Sells 477 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Stock

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) major shareholder Of America Corp /De/ Bank sold 477 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.90, for a total value of $10,446.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA stock opened at $342.25 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $289.98 and a 52-week high of $417.14. The business has a fifty day moving average of $324.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $341.25. The stock has a market cap of $84.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 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 period last year, the company posted $5.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 13.11%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HCA. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays cut their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.