LPL Financial LLC Purchases 3,882 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 6.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,463 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,882 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $22,621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 40,527.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,703,907 shares of the company's stock worth $5,887,850,000 after buying an additional 1,699,713 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6,237.9% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,350,933 shares of the company's stock worth $466,815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329,618 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 489,916 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 12,016.0% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 467,437 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,301,000 after acquiring an additional 463,579 shares during the period. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1,415.0% in the 1st quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 435,423 shares of the company's stock worth $150,472,000 after buying an additional 406,682 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Guggenheim initiated coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Stephens raised shares of HCA Healthcare to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Bank of America downgraded HCA Healthcare from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $394.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $404.00 to $401.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $395.69.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock traded up $2.27 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $366.08. 1,125,177 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,599,301. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $370.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $348.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14.

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

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,646 shares in the company, valued at $4,670,420.72. This represents a 55.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.