Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Grows Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,310 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 31.7% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,241,000 after acquiring an additional 4,285 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Group LP purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $150,548,000. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $18,044,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $869,000. Finally, NRI Wealth Management LC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,896,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HCA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased 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. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

NYSE HCA opened at $316.07 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $313.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $350.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12-month low of $289.98 and a 12-month high of $417.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the company earned $5.90 EPS. Analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business 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. 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. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 13.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 directly 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.