Jon M. Foster Sells 15,698 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Stock

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,670,420.72. This represents a 55.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of HCA stock opened at $387.49 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $340.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $328.73. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07.

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

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 12.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HCA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded HCA Healthcare from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Baird R W downgraded HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $336.00 price target (down from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Guggenheim initiated coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $381.13.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth approximately $840,286,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 40,527.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,703,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,887,850,000 after buying an additional 1,699,713 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 1st quarter worth approximately $569,217,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6,237.9% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,350,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $466,815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329,618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 83.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,399,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $829,104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091,416 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

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.