Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Has $8.17 Million Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 1,093.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,228 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 24,947 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $8,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HCA. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 1,039 shares of the company's stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,838,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd boosted its position 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 valued at $3,153,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. grew 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 period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,195 shares of the company's stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

HCA traded up $7.77 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $357.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,586,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,401,027. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $289.98 and a 52 week high of $417.14. The firm has a market cap of $87.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. The company's 50-day moving average is $333.12 and its 200-day moving average is $329.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $0.70. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. The firm had revenue of $18.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.36 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on HCA shares. Bank of America decreased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com upgraded HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $381.13.

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.