Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 53,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,962,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,021,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 5.5% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the second quarter worth about $2,073,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 56.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 136,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,328,000 after purchasing an additional 49,214 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $560.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $476.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, July 27th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $396.00 to $393.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $450.00 target price on HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $462.64.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of HCA opened at $419.19 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $400.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $441.63. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $353.99 and a twelve month high of $556.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.10.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The company reported $7.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.56 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $20.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.76 billion. HCA Healthcare had a negative return on equity of 244.79% and a net margin of 8.77%.The company’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.84 EPS. Analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 29.42 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 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.