Luken Investment Analytics LLC Decreases Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Luken Investment Analytics LLC cut its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 41.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 548 shares of the company’s stock after selling 392 shares during the quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $164,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 31.7% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,241,000 after purchasing an additional 4,285 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Group LP purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth about $150,548,000. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at $18,044,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth $869,000. Finally, NRI Wealth Management LC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,896,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,363,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at $2,415,579. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Raymond James downgraded HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $382.19.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE HCA opened at $334.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The stock has a market cap of $84.77 billion, a PE ratio of 15.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.64. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $313.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $353.09. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.90 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.91 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 12.02%.

About HCA Healthcare

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.