HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Acquired by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 156.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,707 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,259 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,004,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,812,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,002,773,000 after buying an additional 64,029 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,800,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $701,948,000 after buying an additional 347,177 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $547,104,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 51.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,229,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $534,917,000 after buying an additional 758,127 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,152,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,452,000 after purchasing an additional 67,332 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA stock opened at $322.82 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $85.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.01, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.65. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12 month low of $215.96 and a 12 month high of $335.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $319.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $279.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its 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. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. The company had revenue of $17.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.64 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.49 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 13.91%.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total value of $110,757.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $789,470.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $289,299.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at $520,474. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total transaction of $110,757.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,452 shares in the company, valued at $789,470.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on HCA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $356.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.05.

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.