HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by GHP Investment Advisors Inc.

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 13.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 77 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HCA. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at $41,000. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HCA. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America cut their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,363,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total value of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares in the company, 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. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:HCA opened at $321.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $313.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $353.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its 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 business posted $5.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. 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 yield of 0.89%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 12.02%.

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.