Markel Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Markel Group Inc. grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 56,580 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,650 shares during the quarter. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $16,982,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HCA. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on 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. Bank of America cut their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare 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 value of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, 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 the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $336.60 on Tuesday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12 month low of $289.98 and a 12 month high of $417.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.32, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The business has a 50-day moving average of $317.46 and a 200-day moving average of $346.96.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a boost 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 is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.