Ieq Capital LLC Has $2.61 Million Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Ieq Capital LLC lowered its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,703 shares of the company’s stock after selling 836 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HCA. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HCA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com lowered HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE HCA opened at $316.07 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14. The business’s fifty day moving average is $313.53 and its 200-day moving average is $350.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued 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 net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.11%.

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.60% 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.