Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 189,518 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,828,426 shares of the company’s stock after selling 189,518 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of HCA Healthcare worth $4,750,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,838,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 10,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,153,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 1,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $630,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $334.21 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $322.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $342.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $289.98 and a 52-week high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly 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 last year, the company posted $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.11%.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HCA. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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. KeyCorp reduced their target price on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.67.

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.