Sapient Capital LLC Invests $716,000 in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. abrdn plc boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 164,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,444,000 after acquiring an additional 7,476 shares during the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at about $10,085,000. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,100,000. DNB Asset Management AS lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 60,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,425,000 after buying an additional 7,476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 623.3% in the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 43,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,701,000 after buying an additional 37,488 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 876 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $520,474. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total value of $110,757.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,452 shares in the company, valued at $789,470.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 7,127 shares of company stock valued at $2,218,364. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HCA. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $371.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $356.00 to $367.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $316.59.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA traded down $1.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $307.76. 1,044,934 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,189,320. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $322.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $297.73. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $215.96 and a 52-week high of $335.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.40 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.35. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 674.49% and a net margin of 8.20%. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.74 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

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.