Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 700 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the second quarter valued at about $514,000. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 37,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,384,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 39.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth $233,000. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $13,280,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $324.33 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.76, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.64. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $313.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $353.57.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. 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. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 12.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,579. This represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on HCA shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

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.