Victory Capital Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 9.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 127,516 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,190 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.05% of HCA Healthcare worth $44,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 53.9% during the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,630 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 26.9% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the company's stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,314 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,491,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 17.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,931 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,704,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at $1,021,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America lowered HCA Healthcare from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $394.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Baird R W lowered HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Guggenheim started coverage on HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays set a $416.00 target price on HCA Healthcare and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $399.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.32, for a total value 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 approximately $4,670,420.72. This represents a 55.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA traded up $1.91 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $352.88. The stock had a trading volume of 1,236,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,451,365. The firm has a market cap of $84.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.69, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $375.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $345.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.06. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $289.98 and a 52 week high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $0.70. The business had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.26 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 1,063.91% and a net margin of 8.07%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.36 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is 12.81%.

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.