HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Purchased by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 57.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,608 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Canoe Financial LP purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at $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. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $334.66 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $313.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $353.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71. The company has a market cap of $84.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12-month low of $289.98 and a 12-month high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 520.98% and a net margin of 8.52%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.90 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 21.75 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen lowered their target price on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Raymond James lowered HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $382.19.

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.