Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC Increases Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,201 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HCA. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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 research report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of HCA stock opened at $330.11 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $316.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $347.49. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $289.98 and a 52-week high of $417.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.27 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. 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 issued its 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 net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.90 EPS. On average, analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.