HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Purchased by Financial Strategies Group Inc.

Financial Strategies Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 26.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,445 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,037 shares during the quarter. HCA Healthcare comprises 1.2% of Financial Strategies Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Financial Strategies Group Inc.'s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $4,029,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at $547,104,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 51.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,229,190 shares of the company's stock valued at $534,917,000 after purchasing an additional 758,127 shares in the last quarter. MFN Partners Management LP boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 102.9% during the 1st quarter. MFN Partners Management LP now owns 1,261,201 shares of the company's stock worth $316,081,000 after acquiring an additional 639,701 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,800,847 shares of the company's stock worth $701,948,000 after acquiring an additional 347,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kinetic Partners Management LP bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth $50,524,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HCA. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $335.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays began coverage on HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $356.00 target price for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $314.05.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA traded down $8.73 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $313.90. 1,623,115 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,052,363. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $215.96 and a one year high of $335.83. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $320.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $280.13.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.85. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. The company had revenue of $17.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.64 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare's quarterly revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.49 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total value of $1,185,327.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,880,993. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total value of $1,185,327.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,899 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,880,993. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.79, for a total transaction of $981,728.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,929 shares in the company, valued at $7,647,967.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

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.

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