LRI Investments LLC Takes Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the first quarter worth $36,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the first quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on HCA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $359.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Baird R W raised shares of HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. SVB Leerink raised their target price on HCA Healthcare from $367.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $327.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $329.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $339.72.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA traded up $1.99 on Friday, reaching $354.78. The company had a trading volume of 1,215,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,679,664. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.06. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $215.96 and a 52-week high of $356.30. The company has a market cap of $92.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.68. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $330.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $323.11.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $17.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.05 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 553.13% and a net margin of 8.40%. HCA Healthcare’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.29 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 22.43 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,863 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.18, for a total value of $607,673.34. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,397,042.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,863 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.18, for a total value of $607,673.34. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 19,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,397,042.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 973 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $303,576.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,977,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,397 shares of company stock worth $3,921,929 in the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.