Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 7,513 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Sterling Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 56,291 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,513 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $16,896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 1,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 10,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,153,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.9 %

HCA opened at $335.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.56 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $289.98 and a fifty-two week high of $417.14. The company’s 50-day moving average is $327.57 and its 200 day moving average is $337.04.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on HCA shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.