Apollon Wealth Management LLC Cuts Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 7.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,765 shares of the company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,530,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,989,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,666,569,000 after acquiring an additional 60,304 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 57.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,792,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $931,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019,750 shares during the last quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 53.3% in the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $369,472,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 741,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,110,000 after buying an additional 19,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 631,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,002,000 after buying an additional 88,948 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $475.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $427.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partners raised their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $367.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.00.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $345.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.51, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $237.57 and a 1 year high of $417.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $387.05 and a 200-day moving average of $357.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 11.85%.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. The trade was a 21.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total value of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,415,579. This represents a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 15,155 shares of company stock worth $5,608,990. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.