BloombergSen Inc. Cuts Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Key Points

• BloombergSen Inc. reduced its position in HCA Healthcare by 1.7%, now owning 282,007 shares worth approximately $97.4 million, which accounts for 6.0% of its total holdings.
• Numerous institutional investors have increased their stakes in HCA, with notable purchases including Norges Bank's acquisition worth $840.3 million and GAMMA Investing LLC's dramatic increase of 40,527.3% in shares.
• HCA Healthcare announced a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.86%, and reported earnings of $6.84 per share, surpassing estimates and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 6.4%.

BloombergSen Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 282,007 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,943 shares during the quarter. HCA Healthcare comprises approximately 6.0% of BloombergSen Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. BloombergSen Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of HCA Healthcare worth $97,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 888.9% during the first quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 89 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 344.0% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 111 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 75.8% during the first quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 116 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 99.0% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC now owns 191 shares of the company's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 95 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 issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of 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 research note on Thursday, May 29th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $416.00 to $390.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $394.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $396.46.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HCA traded up $3.06 on Monday, reaching $337.38. 692,571 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,596,236. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The firm has a market cap of $81.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $373.81 and a 200-day moving average of $346.16.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported $6.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.20 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $18.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.49 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.21% and a negative return on equity of 7,363.11%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.50 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.11%.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,646 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

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.