HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Stock Position Raised by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 32.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,819 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,143 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $4,553,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HCA. RB Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 25.9% during the first quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 2,432 shares of the company's stock valued at $610,000 after buying an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 18.6% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 11,035 shares of the company's stock worth $2,766,000 after purchasing an additional 1,730 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,083,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 1.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,499 shares of the company's stock worth $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 1st quarter valued at $248,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at $520,474. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total transaction of $110,757.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,452 shares of the company's stock, valued at $789,470.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $289,299.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869 over the last quarter. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $335.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $314.05.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.9 %

HCA Healthcare stock traded down $2.87 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $311.02. 1,511,041 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,058,563. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $320.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $280.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.02. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $215.96 and a 52-week high of $335.83.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.85. The company had revenue of $17.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.51 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. The firm's revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare Company 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.