Venturi Wealth Management LLC Has $1.57 Million Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,243 shares of the company’s stock after selling 92 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HCA. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth $39,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth $41,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth $44,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA opened at $316.95 on Wednesday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $313.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $351.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 12.02%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the business’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

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.