HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Checchi Capital Advisers LLC

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC reduced its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 17.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,516 shares of the company’s stock after selling 549 shares during the quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $755,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. National Pension Service lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 570,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,173,000 after purchasing an additional 19,637 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 78.6% during the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $750,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 136,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,096,000 after purchasing an additional 2,348 shares during the period. Keeler Thomas Management LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at $797,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 9,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,835,000 after buying an additional 1,777 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA stock opened at $319.65 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $79.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $314.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $350.12.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $5.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.67.

About HCA Healthcare

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.