HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by SC&H Financial Advisors Inc.

SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 766 shares of the company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,241,000 after buying an additional 4,285 shares during the period. Meritage Group LP acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $150,548,000. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth $18,044,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth about $869,000. Finally, NRI Wealth Management LC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth about $2,896,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,415,579. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $321.95 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $313.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $353.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a market cap of $81.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.90 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 12.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on HCA shares. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays dropped 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

About HCA Healthcare

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.