Of America Corp /De/ Bank Purchases 1,580 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Stock

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) major shareholder Of America Corp /De/ Bank bought 1,580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.28 per share, with a total value of $39,942.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of HCA stock opened at $342.25 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $324.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $341.56. The company has a market capitalization of $84.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.58, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued 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 last year, the company posted $5.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 201.3% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 672 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 20.5% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 1,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 16.4% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $462,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 61.3% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 4,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,643,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536 shares during the period. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 8.6% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 901 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HCA. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on 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. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.