Howard Capital Management Inc. Purchases 72 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,566 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on HCA shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial lowered their price target 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. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of HCA stock opened at $319.33 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $79.30 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.64. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $289.98 and a 12-month high of $417.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $313.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $350.53.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.90 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.