Two Sigma Advisers LP Makes New Investment in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 67,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,290,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Norges Bank bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $840,286,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 62.0% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,500,786 shares of the company's stock valued at $450,461,000 after purchasing an additional 574,239 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 85.7% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,061,891 shares of the company's stock valued at $318,727,000 after buying an additional 489,916 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 120.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company's stock valued at $262,264,000 after buying an additional 476,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 12,016.0% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 467,437 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,301,000 after buying an additional 463,579 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HCA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays cut their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W cut HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $336.00 price target (down from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $381.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was 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 owns 12,646 shares in the company, valued at $4,670,420.72. The trade was a 55.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

NYSE HCA traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $376.86. The company had a trading volume of 1,138,192 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,439,364. The company has a market capitalization of $90.66 billion, a PE ratio of 17.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $346.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $329.44. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $0.70. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. The company had revenue of $18.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.36 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is 12.81%.

HCA Healthcare Company 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.