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 HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

NYSE:HCA traded up $0.74 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $316.95. The stock had a trading volume of 1,084,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,650,888. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $313.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $351.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.64. 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.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.90 EPS. Research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HCA. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 31.7% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,241,000 after buying an additional 4,285 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Group LP purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth $150,548,000. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at about $18,044,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $869,000. Finally, NRI Wealth Management LC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,896,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HCA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus 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.