Gabelli Funds LLC Lowers Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Gabelli Funds LLC lowered its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 20.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 46,980 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,343 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $14,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in HCA. Norges Bank bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth approximately $840,286,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 62.0% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,500,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $450,461,000 after acquiring an additional 574,239 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 85.7% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,061,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,727,000 after purchasing an additional 489,916 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 120.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,264,000 after purchasing an additional 476,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $74,121,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA stock opened at $331.41 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $328.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $335.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company posted $5.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $381.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.