Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 2,743 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 30.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,344 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,743 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HCA. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 31.8% in the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 17.7% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 5,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,993,000 after buying an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1,405.0% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,486,000 after purchasing an additional 6,716 shares during the period. Finally, First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services now owns 9,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,125,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $410.00 price objective on HCA Healthcare and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $336.00 price objective (down previously from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Stephens raised shares of HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $384.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of HCA Healthcare from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $392.47.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.7%

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $368.74 on Tuesday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $359.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $333.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.49.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.75 by $0.70. The business had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.26 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.36 EPS. On average, analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 12.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.32, for a total transaction of $5,797,585.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,670,420.72. The trade was a 55.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.