Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $52.74 Million Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC reduced its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 152,618 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,599 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned 0.06% of HCA Healthcare worth $52,738,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 1,039 shares of the company's stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,838,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in 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. boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,921 shares of the company's stock worth $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,471 shares of the company's stock worth $1,042,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:HCA opened at $376.57 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14. The company has a market cap of $90.59 billion, a PE ratio of 16.74, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $361.42 and a 200-day moving average of $334.42. 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 (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $0.70. The company had revenue of $18.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.26 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 1,063.91%. HCA Healthcare's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.36 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of HCA Healthcare 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,646 shares in the company, valued at $4,670,420.72. The trade was a 55.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on HCA shares. Barclays set a $416.00 price objective on HCA Healthcare and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $410.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Robert W. Baird reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $336.00 target price (down previously from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $384.00 to $376.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $392.47.

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.

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