HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lessened its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 53.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 143,047 shares of the company's stock after selling 161,772 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec owned about 0.06% of HCA Healthcare worth $42,936,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Baird R W downgraded HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $384.00 to $376.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $336.00 price objective (down from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $381.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total value of $3,075,250.47. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 1.4 %

HCA stock traded up $4.88 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $361.58. The company had a trading volume of 1,969,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,658,217. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50 day moving average of $333.12 and a 200 day moving average of $329.41. The company has a market cap of $86.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.46, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.46. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 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 analysts' expectations of $18.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.36 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.