Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 44,642 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 790 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $12,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 92.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HCA. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $277.00 to $301.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $311.47.

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total value of $1,185,327.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,880,993. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $520,474. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total value of $1,185,327.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,880,993. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869 in the last 90 days. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA stock opened at $327.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.18. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $215.96 and a 1 year high of $335.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $319.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $278.71. The firm has a market cap of $86.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.24, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.65.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.85. The company had revenue of $17.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.51 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.64 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.