Equitable Trust Co. Sells 1,536 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Equitable Trust Co. lessened its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 131,773 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,536 shares during the period. HCA Healthcare comprises 2.9% of Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $42,336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 2,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $881,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $448,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 289 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total value of $659,327.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 17,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,303,912.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Christopher F. Wyatt sold 4,000 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.20, for a total value of $1,440,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,569,729.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total value of $659,327.85. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 17,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,303,912.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,844 shares of company stock valued at $3,185,932. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on HCA. StockNews.com upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $359.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Leerink Partners increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $367.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $327.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $356.17.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

NYSE HCA traded up $2.80 on Friday, reaching $395.59. 904,652 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 880,567. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.94. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12 month low of $215.96 and a 12 month high of $395.91. The stock has a market cap of $102.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.68. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $349.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $333.51.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $17.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.05 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 553.13% and a net margin of 8.40%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 22.5 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

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.