HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. cut its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,166 shares of the company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 2nd quarter valued at about $514,000. Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 55.8% during the 2nd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,110,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 7.4% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 37,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,384,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE HCA opened at $334.66 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The company has a market capitalization of $84.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $313.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $353.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 520.98%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 21.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 11.85%.

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at $2,415,579. This represents a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. KeyCorp reduced 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. Raymond James downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on 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. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $382.19.

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.