Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,347 shares of the company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,605,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,838,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 10,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,153,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 2,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 3.8 %

NYSE:HCA opened at $323.33 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $317.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $346.50. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14. The firm has a market cap of $79.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.90 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

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.