Norges Bank Takes $840.29 Million Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 2,799,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $840,286,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in HCA. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 201.3% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 672 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 1,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $462,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 61.3% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 4,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536 shares during the period. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 8.6% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $341.94 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $323.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $341.86. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $289.98 and a 52 week high of $417.14. The company has a market cap of $84.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. 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 (NYSE:HCA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business posted $5.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HCA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare 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 research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays decreased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America cut their target price on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock 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 assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Company 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.