Swiss National Bank Trims Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in HCA Healthcare by 2.0%, now owning 535,800 shares worth approximately $185 million.
• HCA Healthcare reported earnings of $6.84 per share for the quarter, exceeding estimates, and revenue increased by 6.4% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.72, set to be paid on September 30th, representing an annual yield of 0.8%.

Swiss National Bank decreased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 2.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 535,800 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,000 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.22% of HCA Healthcare worth $185,146,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HCA. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth about $1,021,000. Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 794 shares of the company's stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 104,705 shares of the company's stock worth $31,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,825 shares during the last quarter. Argent Trust Co raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 5,456 shares of the company's stock worth $1,638,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth about $2,473,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock traded down $1.26 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $389.05. 666,509 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,578,536. The stock has a market cap of $91.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.39. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $369.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $350.30. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12-month low of $289.98 and a 12-month high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.20 by $0.64. The business had revenue of $18.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.49 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.21% and a negative return on equity of 7,363.11%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.50 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on HCA. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $416.00 to $390.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wolfe Research cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Nine equities research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $395.69.

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.