Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 397,019 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $161,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the third quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 8,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,297,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,652,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 2.4% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on HCA. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $392.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Oppenheimer boosted 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. UBS Group lifted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $438.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $376.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $379.39.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $356.03 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $226.48 and a 1 year high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market cap of $90.18 billion, a PE ratio of 15.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $391.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $355.72.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 11.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total transaction of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,438,494.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.