Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires 5,703 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 140,706 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,703 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $42,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company’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 $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $330.11 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $289.98 and a 52-week high of $417.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $316.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $347.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the business earned $5.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders 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 is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.