International Assets Investment Management LLC Takes Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 14,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,030,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at $547,104,000. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 51.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,229,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $534,917,000 after purchasing an additional 758,127 shares during the period. MFN Partners Management LP raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 102.9% during the 1st quarter. MFN Partners Management LP now owns 1,261,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,081,000 after purchasing an additional 639,701 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,800,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $701,948,000 after purchasing an additional 347,177 shares during the period. Finally, Kinetic Partners Management LP bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth about $50,524,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on HCA shares. Barclays started coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $356.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Raymond James upped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.05.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total value of $203,450.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,491.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of HCA stock opened at $313.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.65. 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 200 day moving average of $280.61. 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 released 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. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. The business had revenue of $17.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.64 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.49 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.