E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Takes $228,000 Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of HCA. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 461 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $711,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 11,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,756,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HCA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $371.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $316.59.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

HCA stock opened at $321.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $84.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.05, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $215.96 and a twelve month high of $335.83. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $321.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $299.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 674.49%. The company had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.74 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 13.16%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In related news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.00, for a total value of $494,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,544,316. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.00, for a total value of $494,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,544,316. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,793 shares of company stock worth $1,198,033. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.