Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 21,945 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 13.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 140,087 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,945 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of HCA Healthcare worth $37,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 24,758 shares of the company's stock worth $6,090,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,173 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,027,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 61,555 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,018,000 after buying an additional 3,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 43,133 shares of the company's stock worth $10,610,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total transaction of $110,757.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,452 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,470.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at $520,474. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,452 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,470.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,455 shares of company stock worth $2,008,700 in the last ninety days. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of HCA stock traded up $4.38 on Tuesday, hitting $314.44. The stock had a trading volume of 1,178,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,096,808. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66. The stock's 50 day moving average is $321.53 and its 200-day moving average is $298.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.16. 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 announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.93 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.74 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $356.00 to $367.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $371.00 to $360.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $335.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $316.59.

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.