Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires 5,703 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 140,706 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,703 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of HCA Healthcare worth $42,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth approximately $39,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of HCA opened at $330.11 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The company has a market cap of $81.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $316.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $347.49.

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 the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $5.90 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were 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 $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HCA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

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.