Generate Investment Management Ltd Takes Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Generate Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 91,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,537,000. HCA Healthcare comprises approximately 1.9% of Generate Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 322.3% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Meritage Group LP bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth about $150,548,000. Canoe Financial LP lifted 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 worth $69,513,000 after acquiring an additional 231,492 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 210.6% during 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 grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 29.7% during the 4th 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 last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HCA. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America decreased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $324.33 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $313.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $353.37. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $289.98 and a 52 week high of $417.14. The company has a market cap of $82.15 billion, a PE ratio of 14.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.89 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. 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 dividend yield of 0.89%. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In related news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total value of $1,023,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,579. This trade represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,363,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

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.