HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Acquired by Carret Asset Management LLC

Carret Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,970 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 883 shares during the quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $3,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 19,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,861,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 170,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,969,000 after buying an additional 8,769 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at $2,904,000. Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 43,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,981,000 after purchasing an additional 7,945 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at $8,627,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA opened at $314.71 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The stock has a market cap of $77.48 billion, a PE ratio of 14.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $318.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $346.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HCA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of 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, Morgan Stanley decreased 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 research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

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.