Hancock Whitney Corp Increases Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 24.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,130 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,655,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,498,417,000 after buying an additional 116,826 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,503,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,351,830,000 after purchasing an additional 23,177 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,871,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,159,882,000 after purchasing an additional 50,321 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,928,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $878,975,000 after purchasing an additional 19,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at $840,286,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $327.69 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $329.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $332.52. The firm has a market cap of $80.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.77 by $0.68. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. The company had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.36 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total value of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HCA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $336.00 target price (down previously from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Baird R W downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $381.67.

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.