Criterion Capital Advisors LLC Makes New $2.69 Million Investment in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 9,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,687,000. HCA Healthcare comprises about 2.0% of Criterion Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 1.7% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,812,961 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,002,773,000 after purchasing an additional 64,029 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 14.1% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,800,847 shares of the company's stock valued at $701,948,000 after purchasing an additional 347,177 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth approximately $547,104,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,229,190 shares of the company's stock worth $534,917,000 after acquiring an additional 758,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,152,419 shares of the company's stock worth $529,452,000 after acquiring an additional 67,332 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HCA. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com downgraded HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $314.05.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA traded up $8.11 during trading on Friday, reaching $305.11. 1,651,998 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 942,018. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.18. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12-month low of $215.96 and a 12-month high of $335.83. The firm has a market cap of $80.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.65. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $324.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.40.

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

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total value of $1,305,067.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Sammie S. Mosier sold 1,645 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $513,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,385,552. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total value of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,138,652.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

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.