Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Purchases New Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $767,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. MJP Associates Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Anchyra Partners LLC raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 3.7% during the first quarter. Anchyra Partners LLC now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 3,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,833,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Leerink Partners lowered their price target on HCA Healthcare from $573.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $635.00 to $579.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Argus reduced their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $560.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $520.00 to $485.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on HCA Healthcare from $525.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $462.64.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 5.6%

Shares of HCA stock opened at $429.08 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $353.99 and a twelve month high of $556.52. The stock has a market cap of $92.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.36, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $397.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $444.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The company reported $7.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.56 by $0.03. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.77% and a negative return on equity of 244.79%. The company had revenue of $20.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.76 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.84 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 29.47 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be given a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.45%.

About HCA Healthcare

HCA Healthcare is a for?profit operator of healthcare facilities headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1968, the company owns and operates a network of hospitals and related healthcare facilities and has grown through organic expansion and acquisitions to become a large provider of inpatient and outpatient services.

The company’s core activities include the operation of acute care hospitals, freestanding surgical and emergency centers, and outpatient clinics. HCA’s services encompass inpatient care, surgical services, emergency medicine, diagnostic imaging and laboratory testing, and various outpatient and ambulatory care offerings.