HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Flputnam Investment Management Co.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. reduced its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 85.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,029 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,267 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,812,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,002,773,000 after acquiring an additional 64,029 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,800,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $701,948,000 after buying an additional 347,177 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth $547,104,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,229,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $534,917,000 after acquiring an additional 758,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,152,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,452,000 after purchasing an additional 67,332 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HCA. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $356.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $520,474. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total value of $110,757.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,452 shares in the company, valued at $789,470.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA stock opened at $297.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $320.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $280.94. The company has a market capitalization of $78.55 billion, a PE ratio of 15.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.65. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $215.96 and a twelve month high of $335.83.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.85. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. The firm had revenue of $17.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.64 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.