Brevan Howard Capital Management LP Cuts Stock Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lowered its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 44.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,793 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,416 shares during the quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 22.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 571,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,467,000 after buying an additional 104,409 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 49,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,814,000 after acquiring an additional 6,421 shares in the last quarter. Norway Savings Bank raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 2,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $666,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 29,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,786,000 after buying an additional 1,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 39,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,869,000 after acquiring an additional 1,691 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $357.15 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $333.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $329.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.92 billion, a PE ratio of 16.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $0.70. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.36 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.81%.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HCA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Bank of America cut their target price on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of HCA Healthcare from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $381.13.

About HCA Healthcare

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.