Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Has $5.60 Million Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 18.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,649 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,280 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $5,597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. FMR LLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 322.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,276,909,000 after buying an additional 2,397,883 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 120.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,264,000 after buying an additional 476,756 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Group LP bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth $150,548,000. Canoe Financial LP lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 226,952.9% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 231,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,513,000 after purchasing an additional 231,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 43,546.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 223,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,074,000 after purchasing an additional 222,956 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total value of $3,075,250.47. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA opened at $312.32 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $315.46 and a 200-day moving average of $348.37. The company has a market cap of $77.56 billion, a PE ratio of 14.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.72 dividend. 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 0.92%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HCA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James cut HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.