Legal & General Group Plc Purchases New Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,054,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $410,992,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.49% of HCA Healthcare at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HCA. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,021,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 11.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,334,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 5.5% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,073,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 56.3% during 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 in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

HCA opened at $428.90 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $398.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $442.83. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $353.99 and a 52-week high of $556.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.86 billion, a PE ratio of 14.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 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, beating the consensus estimate of $7.56 by $0.03. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.77% and a negative return on equity of 244.79%. The business had revenue of $20.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 29.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 10.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on HCA shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on HCA Healthcare from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $520.00 to $485.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $635.00 to $579.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $462.64.

HCA Healthcare Profile

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.