HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Holdings Lowered by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,041 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,299 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $11,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $711,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 253 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 11,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,756,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total value of $203,450.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,491.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total value of $203,450.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,491.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,138,652.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HCA. Barclays began coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $356.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.05.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $300.93 on Thursday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12 month low of $215.96 and a 12 month high of $335.83. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $320.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $280.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07. The firm has a market cap of $79.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.65.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.85. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. The firm had revenue of $17.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.91%.

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.