Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Acquires 2,618 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,717 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,618 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $10,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. abrdn plc grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 4.8% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 164,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,444,000 after purchasing an additional 7,476 shares during the period. Todd Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 226,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,326,000 after acquiring an additional 33,271 shares in the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth about $10,085,000. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,100,000. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 60,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,425,000 after buying an additional 7,476 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.00, for a total value of $494,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,544,316. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total value of $110,757.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $789,470.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.00, for a total transaction of $494,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,544,316. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,055 shares of company stock valued at $2,503,100 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA traded down $5.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $309.42. 1,023,674 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,096,014. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $215.96 and a twelve month high of $335.83. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $321.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $298.85.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 674.49% and a net margin of 8.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.74 earnings per share for the current year.

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

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 13.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $316.59.

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.