PFG Advisors Boosts Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

PFG Advisors lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,821 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the quarter. PFG Advisors’ holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $547,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $746,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 5,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,326,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth about $325,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth about $567,000. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 51.6% during the 3rd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,937,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on HCA shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays reduced 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. KeyCorp reduced their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 1.6 %

HCA stock opened at $319.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $78.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $319.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $345.57.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the company posted $5.90 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.