80,494 Shares in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Acquired by Distillate Capital Partners LLC

Distillate Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 80,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,160,000. HCA Healthcare comprises about 1.2% of Distillate Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 1,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,838,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 10,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,153,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on HCA. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $333.07 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $327.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $336.54. 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 cap of $82.00 billion, a PE ratio of 15.16, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $289.98 and a 1 year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company earned $5.90 earnings per share. Analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

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.