National Pension Service Has $130.93 Million Stock Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

National Pension Service grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 483,708 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,719 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $130,930,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of HCA. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 39,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,751,000 after acquiring an additional 2,618 shares in the last quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,126,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,935,000 after acquiring an additional 6,407 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 38.4% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $920,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lincoln National Corp raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 15,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,328,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on HCA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $371.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $316.59.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.00, for a total transaction of $494,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,544,316. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.00, for a total transaction of $494,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,544,316. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,055 shares of company stock valued at $2,503,100. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA traded down $5.03 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $309.42. 1,023,674 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,096,014. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $215.96 and a 52-week high of $335.83. The company has a 50-day moving average of $321.53 and a 200-day moving average of $298.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly 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. The company 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%. HCA Healthcare’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.93 EPS. Analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 13.16%.

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

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.