HighTower Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors increased its HCA Healthcare position by 10.1% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 45,922 shares valued at approximately $17.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 62.73% of HCA’s stock.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $462.64, although Barclays and Morgan Stanley recently lowered targets and assigned neutral or underweight ratings.
• HCA exceeded quarterly expectations with EPS of $7.59 and revenue of $20.23 billion, while revenue rose 8.7% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.78 per share, representing a 0.8% yield.

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 10.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,922 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,196 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $17,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 38,348.7% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 89,141,330 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,755,313,000 after acquiring an additional 88,909,485 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the second quarter worth $5,069,974,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,566,643 shares of the company's stock worth $3,532,563,000 after acquiring an additional 76,039 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,999,422 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,334,040,000 after purchasing an additional 40,086 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 20.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,707,473 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,835,397,000 after buying an additional 799,761 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on HCA shares. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $402.00 to $387.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on HCA Healthcare from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $450.00 target price on HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on HCA Healthcare from $635.00 to $579.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $462.64.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of HCA stock opened at $401.80 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $86.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.45, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.10. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $353.99 and a twelve month high of $556.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $403.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $434.97.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The company reported $7.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.56 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $20.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.76 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.77% and a negative return on equity of 244.79%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.84 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 29.42 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.45%.

About HCA Healthcare

HCA Healthcare, Inc NYSE: HCA is a healthcare services company that operates hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Its network provides a broad range of medical services, including emergency care, inpatient and outpatient treatment, surgery, diagnostic services, and maternity care.

The company also operates ambulatory surgery centers, urgent care facilities, physician practices, and other outpatient locations. HCA Healthcare serves patients through facilities located across the United States, as well as through HCA Healthcare UK, its healthcare operations in the United Kingdom.

HCA Healthcare was founded in 1968 by Dr.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HCA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.