Empirical Finance LLC Sells 119 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Empirical Finance LLC lowered its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,113 shares of the company’s stock after selling 119 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,135,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 8,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,297,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.8% in the third quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.6% in the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 5,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,086,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, BayBridge Capital Group LLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 1.0% during the third quarter. BayBridge Capital Group LLC now owns 3,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,416,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE HCA opened at $321.95 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $313.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $353.44. 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 market cap of $81.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share 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 last year, the business posted $5.90 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on HCA. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays cut their target price on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total value 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,445,700. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.