Vestcor Inc Increases Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 17.8%, owning a total of 13,033 shares valued at $4,504,000.
• HCA Healthcare COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares, resulting in a 55.38% decrease in his ownership of the stock.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $6.84 EPS, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $18.61 billion, up 6.4% year-over-year.

Vestcor Inc increased its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 17.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,033 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,966 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $4,504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HCA. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 888.9% during the 1st quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 89 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 344.0% during the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 111 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 75.8% during the 1st quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 116 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 99.0% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC now owns 191 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America cut HCA Healthcare from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $394.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $401.00 target price on HCA Healthcare and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays lowered their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $416.00 to $390.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded HCA Healthcare from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $320.00 to $385.00 in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $396.46.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock traded up $2.85 on Friday, hitting $356.84. 1,369,756 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,559,973. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $370.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $347.13. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The company reported $6.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.20 by $0.64. HCA Healthcare had a negative return on equity of 7,363.11% and a net margin of 8.21%. The firm had revenue of $18.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.50 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is currently 12.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,646 shares in the company, valued at $4,670,420.72. This trade represents a 55.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

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.