HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Cooke & Bieler LP

Cooke & Bieler LP cut its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 136,138 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,335 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP owned 0.06% of HCA Healthcare worth $47,042,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth approximately $840,286,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 40,527.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,703,907 shares of the company's stock worth $5,887,850,000 after buying an additional 1,699,713 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 62.0% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,500,786 shares of the company's stock worth $450,461,000 after buying an additional 574,239 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 85.7% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,061,891 shares of the company's stock worth $318,727,000 after buying an additional 489,916 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 12,016.0% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 467,437 shares of the company's stock worth $140,301,000 after buying an additional 463,579 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.32, for a total value of $5,797,585.36. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,670,420.72. This trade represents a 55.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HCA traded down $1.69 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $360.91. The company had a trading volume of 1,029,847 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,452,577. The stock has a market cap of $86.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.47. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $376.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $343.58.

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 the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $0.70. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 1,063.91% and a net margin of 8.07%. The company had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.36 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is currently 12.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens raised HCA Healthcare to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Bank of America cut HCA Healthcare from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $394.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $404.00 target price (up previously from $376.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $410.00 target price on HCA Healthcare and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised HCA Healthcare from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $320.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $399.21.

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.