OneAscent Financial Services LLC Invests $738,000 in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $738,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,069,974,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,566,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,532,563,000 after buying an additional 76,039 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,999,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,334,040,000 after acquiring an additional 40,086 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,663,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,702,738,000 after acquiring an additional 13,565 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth about $1,262,513,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $490.00 to $425.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings cut HCA Healthcare from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $402.00 to $387.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $396.00 to $393.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $560.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $462.64.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA stock opened at $406.33 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $396.32 and its 200-day moving average is $444.25. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $353.99 and a 52 week high of $556.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.97 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.10.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The company reported $7.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.56 by $0.03. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.77% and a negative return on equity of 244.79%. The business had revenue of $20.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.84 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 29.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

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

HCA Healthcare Profile

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.