Richardson Financial Services Inc. Sells 410 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Richardson Financial Services Inc. lessened its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 36.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 410 shares during the quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 322.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,276,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397,883 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Group LP bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at approximately $150,548,000. Canoe Financial LP grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 226,952.9% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 231,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,513,000 after acquiring an additional 231,492 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 210.6% in 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 increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 29.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 843,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,020,000 after buying an additional 193,075 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,415,579. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA opened at $330.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $289.98 and a 52-week high of $417.14. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $313.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $353.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.65 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $5.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase 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 (DPR) is 12.02%.

HCA Healthcare Company 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.