Metropolis Capital Ltd Acquires Shares of 341,437 HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Metropolis Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 341,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $117,984,000. HCA Healthcare accounts for approximately 4.4% of Metropolis Capital Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Metropolis Capital Ltd owned about 0.14% of HCA Healthcare at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CVA Family Office LLC increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 538 shares of the company's stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6.2% during the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 3,977 shares of the company's stock worth $1,374,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 1st quarter valued at $345,000. Transform Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.5% during the first quarter. Transform Wealth LLC now owns 25,904 shares of the company's stock worth $8,951,000 after buying an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 32.0% during the first quarter. CX Institutional now owns 20,726 shares of the company's stock worth $7,162,000 after acquiring an additional 5,019 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on 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 now directly owns 12,646 shares in the company, valued at $4,670,420.72. This trade represents a 55.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 0.9%

HCA Healthcare stock traded up $3.50 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $372.09. 1,334,129 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,457,072. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The firm has a market cap of $89.51 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $359.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $333.79. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12-month low of $289.98 and a 12-month high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.26 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 1,063.91%. The firm's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.36 EPS. Research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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 report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $410.00 target price on HCA Healthcare and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Baird R W lowered HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $384.00 to $376.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $392.47.

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.