Man Group plc Acquires 8,972 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Man Group plc lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 11.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,156 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,972 shares during the period. Man Group plc’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $25,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HCA. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $840,286,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 62.0% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,500,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $450,461,000 after buying an additional 574,239 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 85.7% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,061,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,727,000 after acquiring an additional 489,916 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 120.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,264,000 after purchasing an additional 476,756 shares during the period. Finally, Consulta Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Consulta Ltd now owns 550,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,082,000 after purchasing an additional 275,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HCA. StockNews.com raised HCA Healthcare from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. 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, Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $336.00 price objective (down from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $381.13.

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.32, for a total transaction of $5,797,585.36. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 12,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,670,420.72. This trade represents a 55.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 4.9%

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $385.66 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $339.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $328.55. The company has a market cap of $92.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08. 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, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.75 by $0.70. The firm had revenue of $18.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.26 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.36 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.81%.

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.