Jennifer Berres Sells 9,533 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Stock

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $320.82 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $313.30 and a 200-day moving average of $351.29. The company has a market capitalization of $81.26 billion, a PE ratio of 14.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 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 last year, the firm earned $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on HCA shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James cut HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 134.5% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 226,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,076,000 after buying an additional 130,076 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,395,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 56.7% during the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 7,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,196,000 after purchasing an additional 2,646 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,674,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $361,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

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.