Activest Wealth Management Boosts Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1,250.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 135 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 125 shares during the quarter. Activest Wealth Management’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $40,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 322.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,276,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397,883 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 11.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,669,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,842,000 after buying an additional 174,946 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 2.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,487,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $604,511,000 after acquiring an additional 41,190 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,339,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $544,467,000 after purchasing an additional 143,995 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 29.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 843,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,020,000 after purchasing an additional 193,075 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,579. This trade represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HCA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com downgraded HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA opened at $321.95 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The business’s 50 day moving average is $313.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $353.44. The firm has a market cap of $81.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $289.98 and a 52-week high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its 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 period last year, the firm posted $5.90 EPS. Analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 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.