HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,475 shares of the company’s stock after selling 475 shares during the period. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,043,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 1,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,838,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 10,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,153,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.4 %

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $341.94 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $323.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $341.86. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year 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.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 previous year, the firm earned $5.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare 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.