Waldron Private Wealth LLC Sells 174 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Waldron Private Wealth LLC lessened its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,866 shares of the company’s stock after selling 174 shares during the quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth about $547,104,000. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 51.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,229,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $534,917,000 after purchasing an additional 758,127 shares during the last quarter. MFN Partners Management LP lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 102.9% during the 1st quarter. MFN Partners Management LP now owns 1,261,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,081,000 after buying an additional 639,701 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,800,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $701,948,000 after buying an additional 347,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kinetic Partners Management LP acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,524,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total transaction of $203,450.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,491.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.79, for a total value of $981,728.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,929 shares in the company, valued at $7,647,967.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total value of $203,450.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,491.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869 in the last quarter. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

NYSE:HCA opened at $322.54 on Tuesday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $215.96 and a 1-year high of $335.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $320.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $280.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.31 billion, a PE ratio of 16.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.65.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.85. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. The business had revenue of $17.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.51 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $356.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.05.

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.