SVB Wealth LLC Takes $1 Million Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,003,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth approximately $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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

HCA opened at $311.11 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $315.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $348.80. 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 cap of $77.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share 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 in the prior year, the company posted $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on HCA shares. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America reduced their target price on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.67.

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.