Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Has $2.42 Million Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,045 shares of the company’s stock after selling 65 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 322.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,276,909,000 after buying an additional 2,397,883 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 11.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,669,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,842,000 after purchasing an additional 174,946 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 2.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,487,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $604,511,000 after purchasing an additional 41,190 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 12.0% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,339,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,467,000 after purchasing an additional 143,995 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,149,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,590 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HCA. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America reduced 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE HCA opened at $319.82 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $319.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $344.95. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $289.98 and a 1 year high of $417.14. 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 data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the firm earned $5.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 13.11%.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.