Zacks Investment Management Acquires 1,942 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Zacks Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,117 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,942 shares during the quarter. Zacks Investment Management’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $25,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 53.4% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 155,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,353,000 after buying an additional 54,293 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 21.0% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 17,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,136,000 after purchasing an additional 3,052 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at about $259,000. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $12,275,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 4.9% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 56,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,117,000 after purchasing an additional 2,664 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $319.75 on Friday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $363.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $358.61. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $252.85 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The stock has a market cap of $80.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.63.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,579. This represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were 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 owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,438,494.76. This represents a 21.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,155 shares of company stock valued at $5,608,990. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HCA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $475.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $396.00 to $392.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $427.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $380.29.

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.