Merit Financial Group LLC Sells 125 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Merit Financial Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,181 shares of the company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $320,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth $54,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on HCA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial increased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $356.00 to $367.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $316.59.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $309.42 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26. The company has a market capitalization of $81.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $321.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $298.85. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12-month low of $215.96 and a 12-month high of $335.83.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 674.49% and a net margin of 8.20%. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.93 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.16%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $520,474. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $3,138,652.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 8,055 shares of company stock worth $2,503,100. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.