Flputnam Investment Management Co. Has $279,000 Stock Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. cut its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 85.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,029 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,267 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth approximately $547,104,000. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,229,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $534,917,000 after acquiring an additional 758,127 shares during the last quarter. MFN Partners Management LP increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 102.9% in the first quarter. MFN Partners Management LP now owns 1,261,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,081,000 after purchasing an additional 639,701 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,800,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $701,948,000 after purchasing an additional 347,177 shares during the period. Finally, Kinetic Partners Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,524,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total value of $1,305,067.02. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Sammie S. Mosier sold 1,645 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $513,240.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,385,552. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total transaction of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,138,652.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 4.5 %

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $297.00 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $215.96 and a one year high of $335.83. The company has a market cap of $78.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $320.06 and a 200-day moving average of $280.94.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.85. The company had revenue of $17.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.51 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. The business’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.64 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HCA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays began coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $356.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.05.

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.