HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Stock Holdings Raised by LGT Group Foundation

LGT Group Foundation lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,526 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $5,561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 31.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Meritage Group LP bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at about $150,548,000. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at about $18,044,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at about $869,000. Finally, NRI Wealth Management LC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,896,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HCA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.6 %

HCA stock opened at $311.11 on Tuesday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12 month low of $289.98 and a 12 month high of $417.14. The firm 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $315.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $348.80. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (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 last year, the company earned $5.90 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About HCA Healthcare

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.