Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Boosts Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,209 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,263,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth $39,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HCA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total value of $3,075,250.47. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $311.11 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $315.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $348.80. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $289.98 and a fifty-two week high of $417.14. The company has a market cap of $77.26 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.64. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $5.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.11%.

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.