M&T Bank Corp Cuts Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

M&T Bank Corp reduced its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 9.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,833 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,119 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $3,743,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 1,039 shares of the company's stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.3% during the first quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $621,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,195 shares of the company's stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.4% during the first quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,921 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,471 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,042,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on HCA shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $404.00 target price (up previously from $376.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Robert W. Baird reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $336.00 target price (down previously from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of HCA Healthcare from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $320.00 to $385.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Stephens raised shares of HCA Healthcare to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $395.71.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.32, for a total value of $5,797,585.36. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:HCA traded down $2.56 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $375.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 877,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,459,427. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $375.13 and a 200-day moving average of $341.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.71, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.47. 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.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $18.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.36 EPS. HCA Healthcare's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is currently 12.81%.

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.