Prudential PLC Has $2.39 Million Stock Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Prudential PLC cut its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 33.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,956 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,043 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth about $39,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% during 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. lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

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 dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $332.53 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $327.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $339.04. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14. The company has a market capitalization of $81.87 billion, a PE ratio of 15.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted 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 net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HCA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays decreased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

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.