HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lowered its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 42.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,985 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,235 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,997,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HCA. Atomi Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth approximately $233,000. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 0.7% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,652,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,181,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 2.4% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 17,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,030,000 after acquiring an additional 4,412 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. 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. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,579. This represents a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,363,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA opened at $321.95 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $313.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $353.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $289.98 and a 52-week high of $417.14. The company has a market cap of $81.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company posted $5.90 EPS. On average, analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. 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 payout ratio is presently 12.02%.

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.