Heritage Trust Co Invests $2.47 Million in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Heritage Trust Co acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 8,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,473,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HCA. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Tidemark LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $335.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26, a PEG 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 one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $327.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $337.04.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (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 quarter last year, the business earned $5.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HCA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp decreased their target price 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 cut their target price on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. 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 note on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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.