Legal & General Group Plc Lowers Stock Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 29.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,145,705 shares of the company’s stock after selling 466,875 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $343,883,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HCA. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 31.7% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,241,000 after buying an additional 4,285 shares during the last quarter. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth approximately $18,044,000. NRI Wealth Management LC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,896,000. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 39,543 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,869,000 after buying an additional 1,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peak Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,122,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note 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 research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays reduced their target price 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. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE HCA opened at $331.05 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $327.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $337.96. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $81.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $289.98 and a 52-week high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share 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 prior year, the business earned $5.90 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.11%.

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.