Millstone Evans Group LLC Invests $126,000 in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HCA. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Activest Wealth Management increased 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 during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA stock opened at $329.25 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $321.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $343.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market cap of $81.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.99, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $289.98 and a 1 year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $5.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HCA. Wells Fargo & Company cut HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

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.