Pitcairn Co. Boosts Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Pitcairn Co. raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,725 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of HCA. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 31.7% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,241,000 after buying an additional 4,285 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Group LP acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth about $150,548,000. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth about $18,044,000. NRI Wealth Management LC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth $2,896,000. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 39,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,869,000 after buying an additional 1,691 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 4.8 %

Shares of HCA stock opened at $332.53 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $327.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $339.87. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The stock has a market cap of $81.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.14, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the firm earned $5.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by 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.