HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lessened its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 61.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 74,521 shares of the company's stock after selling 118,004 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.'s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $22,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Sanders Capital LLC increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,655,563 shares of the company's stock worth $3,498,417,000 after acquiring an additional 116,826 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,503,849 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,351,830,000 after buying an additional 23,177 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,871,057 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,159,882,000 after buying an additional 50,321 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,928,452 shares of the company's stock valued at $878,975,000 after buying an additional 19,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at $840,286,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total value of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

HCA stock traded down $1.09 during trading on Thursday, hitting $343.99. The company had a trading volume of 419,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,393,932. The firm has a market cap of $84.69 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $331.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $331.49. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $0.70. The firm had revenue of $18.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.26 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.36 EPS. On average, analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is currently 12.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HCA shares. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $336.00 price objective (down from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays decreased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $381.13.

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.