Clarus Wealth Advisors Buys Shares of 758 HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Clarus Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Tidemark LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 99.0% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC now owns 191 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth approximately $64,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.32, for a total value of $5,797,585.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,670,420.72. This represents a 55.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

NYSE HCA opened at $382.04 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $352.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $330.35. The company has a market cap of $91.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.39, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $289.98 and a 1 year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.75 by $0.70. The company had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.26 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.36 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $336.00 target price (down previously from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $384.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Baird R W downgraded HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of HCA Healthcare from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $320.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $366.00 to $416.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $388.80.

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.