BDF Gestion Decreases Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

BDF Gestion trimmed its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 58.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,994 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,998 shares during the period. BDF Gestion’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HCA has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Raymond James cut HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $382.19.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total value of $1,023,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,579. This trade represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,363,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $334.66 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $313.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $353.09. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $289.98 and a 52-week high of $417.14. The company has a market capitalization of $84.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 520.98%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 21.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.85%.

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.