Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Grows Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,076 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 218 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $923,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 322.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,276,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397,883 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,669,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,842,000 after buying an additional 174,946 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 2.8% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 41,190 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,339,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,467,000 after buying an additional 143,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,149,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,885,000 after buying an additional 6,590 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

NYSE HCA opened at $319.82 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08. The business’s fifty day moving average is $319.00 and its 200 day moving average is $344.95. The company has a market capitalization of $78.74 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $289.98 and a fifty-two week high of $417.14.

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

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HCA. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Company 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.