Wedmont Private Capital Boosts Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 17.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,183 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HCA. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 7.4% during the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,652,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 1.3% in the second quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $878,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.4% during the first quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 2,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $881,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total transaction of $3,221,340.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares in the company, valued at $11,438,494.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total transaction of $659,327.85. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 17,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,303,912.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,202 shares of company stock worth $6,407,273. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $387.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.67. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $215.96 and a 1 year high of $409.42. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $385.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $346.88.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $17.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.05 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.40% and a return on equity of 553.13%. HCA Healthcare’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 22.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HCA has been the subject of several research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $376.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $392.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $438.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $359.89.

HCA Healthcare 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.