APG Asset Management US Inc. Sells 3,791 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

APG Asset Management US Inc. cut its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 48.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,791 shares during the quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 1,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,838,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 10,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,153,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America decreased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.67.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total value of $3,075,250.47. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:HCA opened at $331.05 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $327.29 and a 200 day moving average of $337.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. 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.

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

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

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.