Arkadios Wealth Advisors Boosts Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 91.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,324 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,108 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors’ holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 37.0% in the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,373,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,290,000. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 40,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,887,000 after purchasing an additional 7,861 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 7.7% during the second quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 16,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,220,000 after buying an additional 1,165 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $260,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA traded up $2.61 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $392.79. 812,277 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,127,278. The company has a market capitalization of $102.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.45, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $215.96 and a 1 year high of $394.09. The company’s 50-day moving average is $346.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $331.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.53. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.40% and a return on equity of 553.13%. The firm had revenue of $17.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 22.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on HCA. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $345.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Baird R W raised HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $376.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Leerink Partners upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $367.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $356.17.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Christopher F. Wyatt sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.20, for a total value of $1,440,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,569,729.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Christopher F. Wyatt sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.20, for a total value of $1,440,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,569,729.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total value of $659,327.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 17,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,303,912.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,844 shares of company stock worth $3,185,932 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.