SageView Advisory Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 11.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 839 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,655,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,498,417,000 after purchasing an additional 116,826 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,503,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,351,830,000 after purchasing an additional 23,177 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,871,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,159,882,000 after purchasing an additional 50,321 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth $840,286,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,669,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,842,000 after acquiring an additional 174,946 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 1.5 %

HCA opened at $335.42 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $327.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $335.63. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $82.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.27, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12 month low of $289.98 and a 12 month high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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. Sell-side analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HCA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays decreased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $381.67.

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.