HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Stake Cut by Kintegral Advisory LLC

Kintegral Advisory LLC reduced its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,722 shares of the company’s stock after selling 314 shares during the quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,018,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on HCA shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James lowered HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA opened at $316.07 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14. The company has a 50-day moving average of $313.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $350.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $78.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released 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 return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. 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 yield of 0.91%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

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.