HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Bought by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 50.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 164,605 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 55,117 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A. owned about 0.06% of HCA Healthcare worth $49,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 28.3% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 18.1% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 18,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,351,000 after acquiring an additional 2,766 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at about $752,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 243.9% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 36,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,917,000 after acquiring an additional 26,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ASB Consultores LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at about $210,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of HCA Healthcare 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 completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HCA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA stock opened at $320.03 on Thursday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The company has a market capitalization of $79.48 billion, a PE ratio of 14.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.64. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $315.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $348.17.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 in the previous year, the business earned $5.90 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.72 dividend. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.11%.

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.