Calamos Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Calamos Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,776 shares of the company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $14,940,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 322.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,276,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397,883 shares during the period. Meritage Group LP bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $150,548,000. Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 226,952.9% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 231,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,513,000 after acquiring an additional 231,492 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 210.6% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 306,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,691,000 after purchasing an additional 208,015 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 29.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 843,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,020,000 after buying an additional 193,075 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HCA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Truist Financial cut 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at $18,445,700. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,415,579. This represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 1.4 %

HCA opened at $334.65 on Tuesday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $313.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $353.50. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14. The stock has a market cap of $84.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $5.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.89 EPS 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 $0.72 dividend. 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 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.02%.

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.