Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Trims Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 438,024 shares of the company’s stock after selling 891 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of HCA Healthcare worth $178,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 57.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,792,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $931,342,000 after buying an additional 1,019,750 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $131,527,000. Darsana Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 53.3% during the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $369,472,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the first quarter valued at $95,882,000. Finally, Argent Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1,215.6% in the second quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 160,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,493,000 after acquiring an additional 148,092 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HCA. UBS Group increased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Leerink Partners boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $367.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com cut HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $350.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $88.74 billion, a PE ratio of 15.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $229.28 and a 52 week high of $417.14. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $388.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $356.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.85%.

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.