PGGM Investments Lowers Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

PGGM Investments decreased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,575 shares of the company’s stock after selling 980 shares during the period. PGGM Investments’ holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $10,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $356.00 price objective on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.88.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HCA traded down $7.43 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $306.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,257,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,051,296. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $323.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $295.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $81.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 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.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.35. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total transaction of $1,305,067.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,138,652.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total transaction of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,138,652.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.