Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $158.50 Million Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 585,573 shares of the company’s stock after selling 62,839 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.22% of HCA Healthcare worth $158,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kinetic Partners Management LP bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at $50,524,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 501.8% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 208,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,401,000 after acquiring an additional 174,240 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 51.6% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 355,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,502,000 after buying an additional 121,100 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 83.4% during the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 254,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,579,000 after acquiring an additional 115,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avidity Partners Management LP purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth $28,239,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HCA. StockNews.com raised shares of HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays initiated coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $356.00 price target for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total value of $1,185,327.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,880,993. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total value of $1,185,327.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,880,993. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869 in the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HCA traded down $7.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $306.69. The company had a trading volume of 2,257,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,051,296. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.65. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $215.96 and a fifty-two week high of $335.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $323.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $295.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.