Independent Advisor Alliance Increases Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 72.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,965 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 823 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $590,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,838,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.4% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $623,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 10,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,153,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 1.6% during the third quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 2,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,003,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE HCA opened at $319.82 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $78.74 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $289.98 and a fifty-two week high of $417.14. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $319.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $344.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Company 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.