HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Valeo Financial Advisors LLC

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 937 shares of the company’s stock after selling 123 shares during the quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on HCA. Oppenheimer upped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 1.8 %

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $316.18 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $313.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $352.11. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. 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.