Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Buys 12,918 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 803.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,526 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,918 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $5,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in HCA. Norges Bank acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at about $840,286,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 40,527.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,703,907 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,887,850,000 after acquiring an additional 1,699,713 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 62.0% in the 4th 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 during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 85.7% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,061,891 shares of the company's stock worth $318,727,000 after purchasing an additional 489,916 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 120.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company's stock worth $262,264,000 after buying an additional 476,756 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $370.76 on Monday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $289.98 and a fifty-two week high of $417.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50-day moving average of $358.43 and a 200-day moving average of $333.23.

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

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is 12.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HCA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Baird R W downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $410.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Barclays set a $416.00 price objective on HCA Healthcare and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on HCA Healthcare from $384.00 to $376.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $392.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.32, for a total value of $5,797,585.36. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,646 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,670,420.72. This represents a 55.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.