Baird Financial Group Inc. Purchases 1,473 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,278 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,473 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $8,788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 2,875 shares of the company's stock valued at $863,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 65.3% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 438,680 shares of the company's stock worth $131,668,000 after acquiring an additional 173,330 shares during the period. Alteri Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at $430,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1,093.7% during the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 27,228 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,172,000 after buying an additional 24,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,225,000 shares of the company's stock worth $367,684,000 after buying an additional 75,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA traded down $0.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $353.85. 979,511 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,405,867. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G 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. 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's fifty day moving average is $335.93 and its 200-day moving average is $327.81.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share (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 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 revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.36 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is 12.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $336.00 target price (down from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $381.13.

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.