Spire Wealth Management Acquires 745 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 7.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,658 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 745 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $3,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HCA. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the company's stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,021,000. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 1,049 shares of the company's stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 1st quarter worth $117,984,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 117.5% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 92,495 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,762,000 after acquiring an additional 49,968 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HCA. Barclays set a $416.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of HCA Healthcare from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $320.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Stephens raised HCA Healthcare to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Guggenheim initiated coverage on HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Finally, 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $394.33.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 1.1%

HCA traded up $3.98 during trading on Thursday, reaching $378.17. 1,837,990 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,473,210. The stock's 50-day moving average is $364.79 and its 200 day moving average is $335.92. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $90.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.49.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $0.70. The business had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.26 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 1,063.91% and a net margin of 8.07%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.36 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was 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 now owns 12,646 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About HCA Healthcare

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.