Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 184 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. cut its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,807 shares of the company’s stock after selling 184 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth $39,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley cut 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 cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $342.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12-month low of $289.98 and a 12-month high of $417.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $324.53 and a 200 day moving average of $341.56.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business posted $5.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.30% 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.