Essex Savings Bank Grows Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Essex Savings Bank increased its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 8.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 855 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 1st quarter worth $1,140,000. Vista Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 8,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,940,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,149,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 14.9% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 833 shares of the company’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Community Trust & Investment Co. lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 40,663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,051,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on HCA. Wall Street Zen upgraded HCA Healthcare from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays set a $416.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Baird R W downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Stephens raised HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $392.47.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.1%

HCA stock opened at $376.57 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $360.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $334.08. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The firm has a market cap of $90.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.74, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.49.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $0.70. The business had revenue of $18.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.26 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 1,063.91% and a net margin of 8.07%. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.36 EPS. Research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In related news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.32, for a total transaction of $5,797,585.36. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,646 shares in the company, valued at $4,670,420.72. The trade was a 55.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company 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.