Ascent Group LLC Has $3.57 Million Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Ascent Group LLC lessened its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 14.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,783 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,433 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $3,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HCA. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% in the third quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 8,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,297,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 421 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.8% in the third quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 0.7% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,652,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HCA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com lowered HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $427.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $380.29.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA stock opened at $327.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.00. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $246.60 and a one year high of $417.14. The stock has a market cap of $82.88 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.68. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $371.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $358.84.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. This represents a 21.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,155 shares of company stock valued at $5,608,990 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.60% 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.