Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Boosts Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,294 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 326 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $685,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays dropped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James lowered HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $311.11 on Tuesday. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $315.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $348.80. The company has a market capitalization of $77.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 13.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.