Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Raises Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 105,625 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,721 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $28,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HCA. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at $30,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total transaction of $110,757.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $789,470.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $289,299.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $520,474. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total transaction of $110,757.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,452 shares in the company, valued at $789,470.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,127 shares of company stock valued at $2,218,364. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on HCA shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James raised their price target on HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Truist Financial raised their price target on HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock 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 assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $316.59.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.3 %

HCA Healthcare stock traded down $1.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $307.76. The stock had a trading volume of 1,044,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,189,320. 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 firm has a market cap of $81.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a fifty day moving average of $322.64 and a 200 day moving average of $297.17. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $215.96 and a 52-week high of $335.83.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.93 EPS. HCA Healthcare’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

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.