HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Bought by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 62.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,500,786 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 574,239 shares during the quarter. HCA Healthcare makes up 1.1% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.59% of HCA Healthcare worth $450,461,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,838,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 2.4% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 10,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,153,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 2,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,003,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE:HCA opened at $334.42 on Thursday. 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 50 day moving average price of $320.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $343.97. 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 capitalization of $82.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.22, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68.

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

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 13.11%.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total value of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HCA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

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.