Horizon Investments LLC Buys 46 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Horizon Investments LLC increased its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,142 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 322.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,276,909,000 after buying an additional 2,397,883 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 120.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,264,000 after purchasing an additional 476,756 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Group LP bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth $150,548,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at about $74,121,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 226,952.9% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 231,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,513,000 after acquiring an additional 231,492 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on HCA shares. Raymond James lowered HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA opened at $334.42 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.22, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a fifty day moving average of $320.53 and a 200 day moving average of $343.97. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 quarter last year, the business earned $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

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.