Leuthold Group LLC Sells 681 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Leuthold Group LLC cut its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,029 shares of the company’s stock after selling 681 shares during the period. Leuthold Group LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $5,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 322.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,276,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397,883 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,669,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,842,000 after buying an additional 174,946 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,487,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $604,511,000 after acquiring an additional 41,190 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,339,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,467,000 after purchasing an additional 143,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 120.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,264,000 after purchasing an additional 476,756 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $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 hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $316.07 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $313.53 and a 200-day moving average of $350.84. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12 month low of $289.98 and a 12 month high of $417.14. The company has a market capitalization of $78.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the business posted $5.90 earnings per share. 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 dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HCA shares. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. TD Cowen cut their target price on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.