Cerity Partners LLC Has $10.66 Million Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 9.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,844 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 2,718 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $10,658,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 53.9% in the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,630 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,622 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 26.9% during the 1st 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 period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 17.6% during the 1st 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 period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,021,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.32, for a total transaction of $5,797,585.36. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,670,420.72. The trade was a 55.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock traded down $9.79 on Wednesday, hitting $362.01. 972,684 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,454,889. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $376.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $343.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12-month low of $289.98 and a 12-month high of $417.14. The company has a market cap of $87.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.10, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.47.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $18.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.36 EPS. HCA Healthcare's revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on HCA shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $404.00 price target (up previously from $376.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Barclays set a $416.00 price target on HCA Healthcare and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $336.00 price target (down previously from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded HCA Healthcare from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $320.00 to $385.00 in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $399.21.

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.