Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Takes $553,000 Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $553,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 1,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 10,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,153,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of HCA opened at $347.48 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $326.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $340.30. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14. The company has a market capitalization of $85.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $0.72 dividend. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.11%.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp cut their price objective 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. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.