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

Signaturefd LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,809 shares of the company’s stock after selling 61 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $711,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 253 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 11,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,756,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $319.43 on Wednesday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12-month low of $215.96 and a 12-month high of $335.83. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $324.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $293.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07. The stock has a market cap of $84.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.65.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.85. The company had revenue of $17.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.51 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. HCA Healthcare’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.91%.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 can be accessed through this link. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,899 shares in the company, valued at $4,880,993. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on HCA. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays began coverage on HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $356.00 price target for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Four investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently 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.