Horizon Investments LLC Buys 46 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Horizon Investments LLC raised its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,142 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the quarter. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HCA. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at $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 worth $40,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HCA. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA opened at $334.42 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.34 billion, a PE ratio of 15.22, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $289.98 and a fifty-two week high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $320.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $343.97.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the company earned $5.90 EPS. Equities analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. 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 is currently 13.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company 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.