HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Position Boosted by Motley Fool Asset Management LLC

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 14.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,985 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,757 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $4,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 1,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,838,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 10,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,153,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in 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 buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of HCA stock opened at $347.48 on Thursday. 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 fifty day moving average of $326.35 and a 200-day moving average of $340.30. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $289.98 and a 52-week high of $417.14. The stock has a market cap of $85.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business earned $5.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial decreased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the 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 owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Company 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.