Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Trims Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lowered its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 73,049 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,276 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $19,773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,812,961 shares of the company's stock worth $1,002,773,000 after acquiring an additional 64,029 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 14.1% in 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. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth approximately $547,104,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position 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 buying an additional 758,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,152,419 shares of the company's stock valued at $529,452,000 after buying an additional 67,332 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HCA. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays initiated coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $356.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $314.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was 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 $520,474. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $789,470.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the company's 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 owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE HCA traded down $14.03 on Thursday, hitting $297.00. 2,705,099 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,080,516. The company has a market capitalization of $78.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07. The business's 50 day moving average price is $320.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $280.82. 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 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 the consensus estimate of $16.51 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. HCA Healthcare's quarterly revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.64 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.66 dividend. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is currently 13.91%.

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

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.