HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Position Reduced by Sigma Planning Corp

Sigma Planning Corp trimmed its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 59.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 567 shares of the company’s stock after selling 837 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $230,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 69.1% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 17.2% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 762 shares of the company’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 5,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,326,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 5.5% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 22,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,319,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total value of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,579. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,155 shares of company stock valued at $5,608,990 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on HCA shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $395.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $396.00 to $392.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Leerink Partners increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $367.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $438.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.00.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $342.96 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $86.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $238.82 and a 52-week high of $417.14. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $385.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $357.92.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.85%.

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.