Mount Lucas Management LP Trims Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Mount Lucas Management LP reduced its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,952 shares of the company’s stock after selling 181 shares during the quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $886,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $752,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,874,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 5.5% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 5,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,326,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James lowered HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $330.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $316.70 and its 200 day moving average is $347.29. The stock has a market cap of $81.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.