HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Bought by Wedmont Private Capital

Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 20.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,332 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 559 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,655,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,498,417,000 after buying an additional 116,826 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,503,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,351,830,000 after purchasing an additional 23,177 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,928,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $878,975,000 after purchasing an additional 19,121 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at $840,286,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:HCA opened at $384.52 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $355.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $331.71. The stock has a market cap of $92.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.49. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $289.98 and a 1 year high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $0.70. The business had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.26 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.36 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on HCA shares. Guggenheim initiated coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $384.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded HCA Healthcare from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $336.00 price objective (down previously from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays set a $416.00 price objective on HCA Healthcare and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $388.80.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.32, for a total transaction of $5,797,585.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,670,420.72. This represents a 55.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.