M&T Bank Corp Has $3.26 Million Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

M&T Bank Corp cut its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,057 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,217 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $3,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 461 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $711,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 11,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,756,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,138,652.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,138,652.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 2,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $789,470.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,455 shares of company stock worth $2,008,700. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $316.59.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA stock opened at $314.44 on Wednesday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12 month low of $215.96 and a 12 month high of $335.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $321.53 and a 200-day moving average of $298.85.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 674.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare announced that its board has authorized a share 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 stock is undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. 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.