Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd Takes $2.17 Million Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,165,000. HCA Healthcare comprises approximately 0.7% of Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in HCA. Kinetic Partners Management LP purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,524,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 501.8% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 208,965 shares of the company's stock worth $51,401,000 after purchasing an additional 174,240 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 350.0% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 204,812 shares of the company's stock worth $55,439,000 after purchasing an additional 159,303 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 51.6% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 355,730 shares of the company's stock worth $87,502,000 after purchasing an additional 121,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 83.4% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 254,408 shares of the company's stock worth $62,579,000 after purchasing an additional 115,720 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE HCA traded down $0.38 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $309.44. 812,446 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,103,285. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $81.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.65. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $323.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $296.64. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12-month low of $215.96 and a 12-month high of $335.83.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 674.49%. The business had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.93 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HCA. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $356.00 to $367.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. 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 research report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $371.00 to $360.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $316.59.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Sammie S. Mosier sold 1,645 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Sammie S. Mosier sold 1,645 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total transaction 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total transaction of $1,305,067.02. Following 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,779 shares of company stock worth $2,421,814. Corporate 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.