Equitable Trust Co. Has $39.15 Million Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Equitable Trust Co. trimmed its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 130,428 shares of the company’s stock after selling 182 shares during the quarter. HCA Healthcare accounts for 2.2% of Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $39,148,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.8 %

HCA opened at $321.95 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $313.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $353.44. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the company earned $5.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.72 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the company’s 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 represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,579. This represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HCA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare 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.