Groupama Asset Managment Grows Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 5.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,894 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,599 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $15,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HCA. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the first quarter worth about $33,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 213.0% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 72 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on HCA. Jefferies Financial Group set a $450.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Argus lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $560.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $588.00 to $525.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $476.00 price objective on HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $465.05.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $403.44 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $387.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $451.16. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12 month low of $353.13 and a 12 month high of $556.52. The company has a market cap of $87.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.51, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.12.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The company reported $7.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.56 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $20.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.76 billion. HCA Healthcare had a negative return on equity of 244.79% and a net margin of 8.77%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 29.45 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 10.45%.

About HCA Healthcare

HCA Healthcare is a for‑profit operator of healthcare facilities headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1968, the company owns and operates a network of hospitals and related healthcare facilities and has grown through organic expansion and acquisitions to become a large provider of inpatient and outpatient services.

The company’s core activities include the operation of acute care hospitals, freestanding surgical and emergency centers, and outpatient clinics. HCA’s services encompass inpatient care, surgical services, emergency medicine, diagnostic imaging and laboratory testing, and various outpatient and ambulatory care offerings.