Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 121 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Sentry Investment Management LLC cut its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 746 shares of the company’s stock after selling 121 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 322.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,276,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397,883 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 120.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,264,000 after buying an additional 476,756 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Group LP acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth $150,548,000. Canoe Financial LP increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 226,952.9% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 231,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,513,000 after purchasing an additional 231,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 210.6% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 306,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,691,000 after purchasing an additional 208,015 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HCA has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total value of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA stock opened at $333.30 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $314.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $350.33. The firm has a market cap of $82.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12 month low of $289.98 and a 12 month high of $417.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 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 in the prior year, the business earned $5.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.