Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Sells 18,175 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH decreased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 500,099 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,175 shares during the quarter. HCA Healthcare makes up about 1.1% of Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH's investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned 0.20% of HCA Healthcare worth $172,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 120.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company's stock valued at $262,264,000 after acquiring an additional 476,756 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at $1,021,000. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 5.2% in the first quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 1,049 shares of the company's stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at $1,511,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 3,673 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,102,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE HCA traded down $0.91 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $370.76. The stock had a trading volume of 872,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,452,711. The firm has a market cap of $89.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.49. 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 quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company's 50 day moving average price is $358.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $333.18.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $18.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.36 EPS. HCA Healthcare's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is 12.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HCA. Morgan Stanley set a $410.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Barclays set a $416.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $320.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $392.47.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $5,797,585.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 12,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,670,420.72. This represents a 55.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.