D.A. Davidson & CO. Purchases 931 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 34.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,656 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 931 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HCA. Norges Bank purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at about $840,286,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 40,527.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,703,907 shares of the company's stock worth $5,887,850,000 after acquiring an additional 1,699,713 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in 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 valued at $450,461,000 after purchasing an additional 574,239 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 85.7% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,061,891 shares of the company's stock valued at $318,727,000 after buying an additional 489,916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 12,016.0% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 467,437 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,301,000 after acquiring an additional 463,579 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,646 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,670,420.72. This represents a 55.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA stock traded down $2.56 on Friday, reaching $375.76. The stock had a trading volume of 877,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,460,319. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12 month low of $289.98 and a 12 month high of $417.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.47. The firm's 50-day moving average is $375.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $341.72.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.36 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is currently 12.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on HCA shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $410.00 price objective on HCA Healthcare and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised HCA Healthcare from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $320.00 to $385.00 in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and set a $336.00 price objective (down from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $395.71.

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.