UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Raises Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 12.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,675,460 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 188,093 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $502,889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth $18,044,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 120.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,264,000 after purchasing an additional 476,756 shares during the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 120,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,262,000 after purchasing an additional 1,931 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 18,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,415,000 after purchasing an additional 2,621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 9,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,975,000 after purchasing an additional 1,851 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $336.00 target price (down previously from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $381.13.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $385.95 on Wednesday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The firm has a market cap of $92.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a 50 day moving average of $343.61 and a 200-day moving average of $328.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $0.70. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. The business had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.36 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.81%.

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.32, for a total value of $5,797,585.36. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 12,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,670,420.72. This represents a 55.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company 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.