GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 737 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 17.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,931 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 737 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,704,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth about $840,286,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 574,239 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 85.7% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in 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 last quarter. Finally, Consulta Ltd boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Consulta Ltd now owns 550,000 shares of the company's stock worth $165,082,000 after acquiring an additional 275,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on HCA shares. Guggenheim began coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $404.00 price objective (up previously from $376.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Barclays set a $416.00 price target on HCA Healthcare and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded HCA Healthcare from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $320.00 to $385.00 in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed 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. Eight investment 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $395.71.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA stock traded up $0.10 during trading on Monday, reaching $379.40. The company had a trading volume of 53,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,462,596. The company has a market capitalization of $91.27 billion, a PE ratio of 16.89, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.49. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $366.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $337.09. 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 current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $0.70. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 1,063.91%. The firm had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.36 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is presently 12.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HCA Healthcare news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of HCA Healthcare 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,646 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,670,420.72. The trade was a 55.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company 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.