Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Lowers Stock Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lowered its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,519,837 shares of the company’s stock after selling 32,127 shares during the period. HCA Healthcare comprises approximately 0.6% of Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $756,329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HCA. Allianz SE purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth about $1,009,000. Allstate Corp purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,726,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 3,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $907,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. denkapparat Operations GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth about $309,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 160,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,158,000 after acquiring an additional 18,180 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HCA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial decreased their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.0 %

HCA stock opened at $342.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $324.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $341.25. The stock has a market cap of $84.26 billion, a PE ratio of 15.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $289.98 and a fifty-two week high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of HCA Healthcare 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.