Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Invests $553,000 in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $553,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on HCA. KeyCorp cut their price target on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA opened at $347.48 on Thursday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $289.98 and a 1 year high of $417.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $326.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $340.30.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the company earned $5.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.