Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Sells 3,510 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 20.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,047 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,510 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $4,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 5,130 shares of the company's stock worth $1,540,000 after buying an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 58.8% during the fourth quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the company's stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 720 shares during the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 95,849 shares of the company's stock worth $28,769,000 after acquiring an additional 26,836 shares in the last quarter. Crake Asset Management LLP boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 176.3% in the fourth quarter. Crake Asset Management LLP now owns 69,087 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,736,000 after buying an additional 44,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantessence Capital LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth $406,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA traded up $5.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $348.11. The stock had a trading volume of 799,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,396,590. The company has a market cap of $85.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. The business has a fifty day moving average of $331.50 and a 200 day moving average of $331.12. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $289.98 and a 1 year high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is 12.81%.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on HCA shares. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Baird R W downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on HCA Healthcare from $384.00 to $376.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $381.13.

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.