Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 4,143 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 32.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,819 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,143 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $4,553,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 156.0% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,004,000 after buying an additional 2,259 shares in the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 16,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,549,000 after buying an additional 3,490 shares in the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at $54,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 5,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,392,000 after buying an additional 770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth $4,030,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $313.90 on Wednesday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $215.96 and a 1 year high of $335.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $320.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $280.61. The company has a market capitalization of $83.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.85. The company had revenue of $17.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.51 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. HCA Healthcare’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.49 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership 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 0.84%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total value of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,138,652.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Sammie S. Mosier sold 1,645 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total transaction of $513,240.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,646 shares in the company, valued at $2,385,552. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total value of $1,305,067.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. 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 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.05.

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.