Diligent Investors LLC Buys 951 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Diligent Investors LLC increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 110.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,811 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 951 shares during the period. Diligent Investors LLC's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HCA. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 22.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 571,975 shares of the company's stock worth $232,467,000 after acquiring an additional 104,409 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 49,356 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,814,000 after purchasing an additional 6,421 shares during the period. Norway Savings Bank lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 2,218 shares of the company's stock worth $666,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Park National Corp OH grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 29,273 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 39,543 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,869,000 after acquiring an additional 1,691 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.0 %

HCA traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $353.85. 979,511 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,404,367. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.46. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $335.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $328.86. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14.

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

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is currently 12.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HCA. Baird R W downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com raised HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on HCA Healthcare from $384.00 to $376.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $381.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.