Bellwether Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Key Points

• Bellwether Advisors LLC has invested approximately $2.46 million in HCA Healthcare, acquiring 7,124 shares in the first quarter.
• HCA Healthcare reported earnings of $6.84 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates and generating a revenue of $18.61 billion.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings on HCA, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $399.46.

Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 7,124 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,462,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,077 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,791,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 872 shares of the company's stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.3% during the first quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,797 shares of the company's stock worth $621,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Barden Capital Management Inc. raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,921 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,009,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HCA. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded HCA Healthcare from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $320.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on HCA Healthcare from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $401.00 price target on HCA Healthcare and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Wolfe Research downgraded HCA Healthcare from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on HCA Healthcare from $416.00 to $390.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $396.46.

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.32, for a total transaction of $5,797,585.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,646 shares in the company, valued at $4,670,420.72. This trade represents a 55.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

NYSE:HCA traded up $0.94 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $356.00. The stock had a trading volume of 740,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,605,877. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $371.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $346.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.47. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.98.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported $6.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.20 by $0.64. The business had revenue of $18.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.49 billion. HCA Healthcare had a negative return on equity of 7,363.11% and a net margin of 8.21%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.50 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is 12.11%.

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.