Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,042 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

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

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 6.1 %

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $332.18 on Tuesday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $281.61 and a fifty-two week high of $417.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $313.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $353.13. The company has a market capitalization of $84.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.12.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 previous year, the firm earned $5.90 EPS. Research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 21.75 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HCA. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $382.19.

HCA Healthcare Company 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.