Live Oak Private Wealth LLC Increases Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Live Oak Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,026 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,307 shares during the quarter. HCA Healthcare makes up 1.8% of Live Oak Private Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $10,513,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of HCA. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,241,000 after buying an additional 4,285 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Group LP purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth about $150,548,000. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at about $18,044,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at approximately $869,000. Finally, NRI Wealth Management LC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,896,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HCA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James cut HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial dropped their price target 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, Bank of America cut their target price on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,579. This trade represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA opened at $324.33 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.15 billion, a PE ratio of 14.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $313.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $353.57. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.90 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 12.02%.

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.