Janus Henderson Group PLC Boosts Stock Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 14.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,538,826 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 199,188 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned about 0.61% of HCA Healthcare worth $461,883,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at $840,286,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 62.0% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,500,786 shares of the company's stock worth $450,461,000 after purchasing an additional 574,239 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 85.7% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,061,891 shares of the company's stock worth $318,727,000 after buying an additional 489,916 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 120.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company's stock worth $262,264,000 after purchasing an additional 476,756 shares during the period. Finally, Consulta Ltd grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Consulta Ltd now owns 550,000 shares of the company's stock worth $165,082,000 after purchasing an additional 275,000 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on HCA shares. StockNews.com raised shares of HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Baird R W cut HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an "overweight" 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 research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and set a $336.00 target price (down previously from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $381.13.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA opened at $353.85 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14. The stock has a market cap of $85.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $335.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $328.30.

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 net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. The business had revenue of $18.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.36 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.81%.

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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