Sandy Spring Bank Has $141,000 Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Sandy Spring Bank increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 471 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $141,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 62.0% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,500,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $450,461,000 after acquiring an additional 574,239 shares during the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 9,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,879,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $88,000. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 3,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $944,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn FI LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $788,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $329.25 on Friday. 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 12 month low of $289.98 and a 12 month high of $417.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $321.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $343.43. The stock has a market cap of $81.06 billion, a PE ratio of 14.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the firm earned $5.90 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on HCA shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, January 27th. 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James cut HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 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, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total value of $3,075,250.47. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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.