Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Sells 125 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. trimmed its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,166 shares of the company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the third quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 8,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,297,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.8% during the third quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,652,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on HCA shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $382.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,579. This represents a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $334.66 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $313.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $353.09. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12 month low of $289.98 and a 12 month high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 520.98%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.90 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 21.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 11.85%.

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.