Man Group plc Buys 8,972 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Man Group plc lifted its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,156 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,972 shares during the period. Man Group plc’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $25,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at $840,286,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 62.0% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,500,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $450,461,000 after buying an additional 574,239 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 85.7% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,061,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,727,000 after acquiring an additional 489,916 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 120.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,264,000 after purchasing an additional 476,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Consulta Ltd raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Consulta Ltd now owns 550,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,082,000 after buying an additional 275,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA stock opened at $385.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $92.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.46. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12-month low of $289.98 and a 12-month high of $417.14. The business’s 50 day moving average is $339.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $328.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $0.70. The company had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.26 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.36 EPS. Analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.81%.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.32, for a total value of $5,797,585.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,646 shares in the company, valued at $4,670,420.72. This represents a 55.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HCA has been the topic of several research reports. Baird R W downgraded HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $384.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $336.00 price target (down previously from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $381.13.

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.