Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 34,422 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc cut its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 203,583 shares of the company's stock after selling 34,422 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned about 0.08% of HCA Healthcare worth $61,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth approximately $18,044,000. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 39,543 shares of the company's stock worth $11,869,000 after buying an additional 1,691 shares during the period. Peak Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,122,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 116,075 shares of the company's stock worth $34,840,000 after acquiring an additional 8,329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 120.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company's stock worth $262,264,000 after acquiring an additional 476,756 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays decreased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America decreased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $336.00 price objective (down from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $384.00 to $376.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $381.13.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of NYSE HCA traded up $9.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $362.98. 1,679,352 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,406,961. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52, a PEG 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $336.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $327.80. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $0.70. The business had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.26 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. HCA Healthcare's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid 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 yield of 0.79%. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is 12.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

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.