Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Buys 69 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,167 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company’s 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 owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $347.48 on Thursday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12 month low of $289.98 and a 12 month high of $417.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $326.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $340.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its 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 net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 13.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. 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 research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

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.