Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Decreases Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. cut its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 22.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,269 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,925 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $3,983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $623,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 2,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.0% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 1,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $630,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA stock opened at $305.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.92, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.64. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $315.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $349.39. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 13.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

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.