HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by American Trust

American Trust lowered its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA – Get Rating) by 3.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,370 shares of the company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. American Trust’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ellevest Inc. lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 13.4% in the third quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 1,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 2.0% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 36,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,791,000 after buying an additional 708 shares during the last quarter. M&G Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 934.4% in the second quarter. M&G Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after buying an additional 7,877 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 11.5% during the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TIAA FSB raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.7% during the third quarter. TIAA FSB now owns 1,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on HCA shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $283.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $217.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $265.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $235.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $240.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Monday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.41.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 1.5 %

HCA opened at $250.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $69.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.03, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.47 and a 52 week high of $279.02. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $254.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $231.73.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 27th. The company reported $4.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.79 by ($0.15). HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 9.37% and a negative return on equity of 1,260.96%. The company had revenue of $15.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 17.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 17th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 16th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.48%.

HCA Healthcare announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, January 27th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, CFO Bill B. Rutherford sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.19, for a total value of $7,745,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,076,566.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 1,734 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $263.61, for a total value of $457,099.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,626,082.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bill B. Rutherford sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.19, for a total value of $7,745,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 81,632 shares in the company, valued at $21,076,566.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 79,899 shares of company stock valued at $20,460,494. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Profile

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HCA Healthcare, Inc is a health care services company engaged in operating hospitals, freestanding surgery centers and emergency care facilities, urgent care facilities, walk-in clinics, diagnostic and imaging centers, radiation and oncology therapy centers, comprehensive rehabilitation and physical therapy centers, physician practices, home health, hospice, outpatient physical therapy home and community-based services providers, and various other facilities.