Rhumbline Advisers Lowers Stock Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Rhumbline Advisers cut its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 314,084 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,565 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $94,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HCA. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 322.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,276,909,000 after buying an additional 2,397,883 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Group LP purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at approximately $150,548,000. Canoe Financial LP boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 226,952.9% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 231,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,513,000 after purchasing an additional 231,492 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 210.6% during the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 306,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,691,000 after purchasing an additional 208,015 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 843,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,020,000 after purchasing an additional 193,075 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on HCA shares. Raymond James downgraded HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America cut their price target on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $316.18 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.09 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.64. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $313.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $352.25. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12 month low of $289.98 and a 12 month high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm earned $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. 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 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 12.02%.

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.