HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Per Stirling Capital Management LLC.

Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. cut its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 66.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 862 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,672 shares during the quarter. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 33.4% during the third quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,059,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 485.1% during the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 2,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 21.2% during the third quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 1,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.9% during the third quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 83,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,593,000 after purchasing an additional 2,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 5,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after buying an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of HCA traded up $4.65 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $336.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 647,382 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,082,831. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12-month low of $215.96 and a 12-month high of $340.00. The stock has a market cap of $88.17 billion, a PE ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.69. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $319.08 and its 200 day moving average is $309.52.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 674.49% and a net margin of 8.20%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.93 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on HCA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $327.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $371.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Baird R W raised HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $356.00 to $367.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 6,311 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.88, for a total transaction of $1,999,829.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,387,253.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other HCA Healthcare news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 6,311 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.88, for a total transaction of $1,999,829.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,387,253.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,617 shares of company stock valued at $4,321,986. 1.70% 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.