HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Schechter Investment Advisors LLC

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,406 shares of the company’s stock after selling 90 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $422,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 28.3% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 18,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,351,000 after acquiring an additional 2,766 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $752,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in 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 worth $14,917,000 after purchasing an additional 26,031 shares during the period. Finally, ASB Consultores LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth $210,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on HCA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James lowered HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 2.6 %

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $320.03 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $79.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12 month low of $289.98 and a 12 month high of $417.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $315.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $348.17.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 quarter last year, the business posted $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business 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. 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 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.11%.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.