Great Lakes Advisors LLC Sells 8,217 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 69.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,623 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,217 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,087,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $746,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth about $567,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 29,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,960,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 21,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,870,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 1,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on HCA. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America decreased their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial decreased 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 note on Monday, January 6th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $319.82 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $319.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $345.26. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14. The company has a market cap of $78.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.90 EPS. Analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.11%.

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.