HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,476 shares of the company’s stock after selling 56 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sigma Planning Corp grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 18,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,601,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $393,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Prakash Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Finally, Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 66.7% in the fourth quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 10,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,152,000 after buying an additional 4,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total value of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE HCA opened at $319.33 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $79.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.64. The business has a fifty day moving average of $313.72 and a 200-day moving average of $350.53. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $289.98 and a fifty-two week high of $417.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America decreased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays decreased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James downgraded HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.