Clarus Wealth Advisors Purchases Shares of 758 HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Clarus Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 758 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 120.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company's stock valued at $262,264,000 after buying an additional 476,756 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 9,913 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,975,000 after buying an additional 1,851 shares during the period. Financial Strategies Group Inc. increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 23,694 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,175,000 after buying an additional 3,495 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 19,448 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,864,000 after buying an additional 840 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,021,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In related news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.32, for a total transaction of $5,797,585.36. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 12,646 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,670,420.72. The trade was a 55.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HCA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Baird R W cut shares of HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $366.00 to $416.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of HCA Healthcare from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $320.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $388.80.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE HCA traded down $0.31 during trading on Thursday, reaching $381.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,058,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,438,757. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.74 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $353.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $331.07. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $0.70. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. The business had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.36 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is 12.81%.

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.