ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd Invests $8.63 Million in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 28,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,627,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth $39,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% in the fourth 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. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total value of $3,075,250.47. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,757.08. This 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 available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HCA. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays decreased 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, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $313.49 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $77.18 billion, a PE ratio of 14.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $318.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $346.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07.

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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

HCA Healthcare Company 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.