HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lessened its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 22.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,269 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,925 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $3,983,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,011,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.0% during the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 8,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,598,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 1,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 28.3% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth approximately $225,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on HCA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 4.7 %

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $305.79 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $289.98 and a fifty-two week high of $417.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $315.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $349.39. The company has a market capitalization of $75.94 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.90 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total value of $3,075,250.47. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.60% 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.