Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC Lowers Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 10.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,699 shares of the company’s stock after selling 302 shares during the period. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,097,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HCA. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 57.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,792,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $931,342,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019,750 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the second quarter valued at approximately $131,527,000. Darsana Capital Partners LP lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 53.3% during the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $369,472,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the first quarter worth $95,882,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 30.4% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 721,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $240,581,000 after purchasing an additional 168,093 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $401.00 on Wednesday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $215.96 and a 1-year high of $411.87. The company has a market cap of $105.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $389.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $348.47.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $17.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.05 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.40% and a return on equity of 553.13%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.29 EPS. Analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 22.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on HCA shares. StockNews.com upgraded HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. KeyCorp initiated coverage on HCA Healthcare in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $475.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research raised HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $427.00 price objective on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $365.65.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Christopher F. Wyatt sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,569,729.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other HCA Healthcare news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Christopher F. Wyatt sold 4,000 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were 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 owns 40,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,569,729.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,202 shares of company stock valued at $6,407,273 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.