Farther Finance Advisors LLC Decreases Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC cut its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 22.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 899 shares of the company’s stock after selling 258 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the 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 owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on HCA shares. Barclays cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of 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 restated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $329.97 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $81.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $320.07 and its 200 day moving average is $344.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $289.98 and a 52-week high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

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.