Leuthold Group LLC Trims Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Leuthold Group LLC decreased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,282 shares of the company’s stock after selling 40 shares during the quarter. Leuthold Group LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $4,949,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 2,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $796,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. AJOVista LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at $123,000. Todd Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 226,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,326,000 after purchasing an additional 33,271 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth about $716,000. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $858,000 after buying an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE HCA traded up $1.10 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $311.16. 92,285 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,083,957. The company has a market cap of $81.50 billion, a PE ratio of 15.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $215.96 and a twelve month high of $335.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $321.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $298.27.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 674.49%. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.93 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $316.59.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 973 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $303,576.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,977,880. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total value of $1,305,067.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 973 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total transaction of $303,576.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,977,880. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,455 shares of company stock worth $2,008,700 in the last 90 days. 1.70% 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.