Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 76,857 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 0.5%, now owning approximately 15.75 million shares worth about $5.44 billion.
• HCA Healthcare reported earnings per share of $6.84 for the latest quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $6.20, alongside a revenue of $18.61 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share, which will be paid on September 30th, providing a yield of 0.8%.

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,751,569 shares of the company's stock after selling 76,857 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 6.55% of HCA Healthcare worth $5,442,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HCA. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 53.9% during the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,630 shares of the company's stock worth $1,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 26.9% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the company's stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 17.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,931 shares of the company's stock worth $1,704,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,314 shares of the company's stock worth $1,491,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 145.3% during the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 3,550 shares of the company's stock worth $1,227,000 after buying an additional 2,103 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare 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 value of $5,797,585.36. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HCA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Baird R W downgraded HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $336.00 target price (down previously from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Bank of America downgraded HCA Healthcare from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $394.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised HCA Healthcare from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $320.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on HCA Healthcare from $416.00 to $390.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $395.69.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA traded up $8.51 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $381.84. 1,015,992 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,587,259. The company has a market capitalization of $89.35 billion, a PE ratio of 16.05, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $369.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $349.15. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14.

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

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is 12.11%.

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.