Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $129.91 Million Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 432,812 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,212 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $129,909,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. now owns 8,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,595,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth $230,000. Choreo LLC boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 6,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,800,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 19,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,864,000 after buying an additional 840 shares during the period. Finally, Weaver Capital Management LLC grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 2,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $825,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,415,579. This trade represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.8 %

HCA stock opened at $321.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a market capitalization of $81.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $289.98 and a fifty-two week high of $417.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $313.85 and a 200-day moving average of $353.37.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.89 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HCA has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Bank of America dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

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.