HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Tranquility Partners LLC

Tranquility Partners LLC lessened its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 12.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,403 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,323 shares during the quarter. HCA Healthcare comprises about 1.9% of Tranquility Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Tranquility Partners LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $4,440,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.7% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,812,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,002,773,000 after purchasing an additional 64,029 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 14.1% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,800,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $701,948,000 after acquiring an additional 347,177 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth approximately $547,104,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,229,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $534,917,000 after acquiring an additional 758,127 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 3.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,152,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,452,000 after acquiring an additional 67,332 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE HCA traded down $2.87 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $311.02. 1,511,041 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,058,563. The stock has a market cap of $82.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.18. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $320.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $280.61. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $215.96 and a 1 year high of $335.83.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.85. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. The company had revenue of $17.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.64 EPS. HCA Healthcare’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.66 dividend. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 13.91%.

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $520,474. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total transaction of $110,757.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,452 shares in the company, valued at approximately $789,470.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $289,299.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HCA has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.05.

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.