IMS Capital Management Makes New $207,000 Investment in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

IMS Capital Management bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $694,985,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 35.7% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,503,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,219,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183,890 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 57.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,792,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $931,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019,750 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,404,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,086,836,000 after buying an additional 456,738 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 230.5% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 553,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,747,000 after buying an additional 385,854 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.00, for a total value of $494,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,544,316. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.00, for a total value of $494,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,544,316. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 6,311 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $316.88, for a total transaction of $1,999,829.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,624 shares in the company, valued at $9,387,253.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,268 shares of company stock valued at $6,804,285. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on HCA. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $329.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $345.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. SVB Leerink boosted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $367.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $371.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $344.06.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 1.9 %

HCA stock traded down $6.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $356.36. 1,604,536 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,536,892. The company has a market cap of $91.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $334.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $324.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.96 and a 52 week high of $369.41.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.53. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.40% and a return on equity of 553.13%. The firm had revenue of $17.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 22.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 13.16%.

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.