Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC Increases Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 78.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,582 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,021 shares during the quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 31.7% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,241,000 after buying an additional 4,285 shares during the period. Meritage Group LP bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth about $150,548,000. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $18,044,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $869,000. Finally, NRI Wealth Management LC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at $2,896,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HCA. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued 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 lowered their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare 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 transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

NYSE:HCA opened at $319.82 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $319.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $344.95. 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 stock has a market cap of $78.74 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (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 previous year, the firm posted $5.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

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.