Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 1,120 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc reduced its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 228,365 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,120 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned 0.09% of HCA Healthcare worth $73,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CreativeOne Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 1st quarter worth $231,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 29.9% in the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 13,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,636,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,404,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,086,836,000 after purchasing an additional 456,738 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 60.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 365,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,065,000 after buying an additional 138,146 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the first quarter worth $566,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total transaction of $659,327.85. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 17,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,303,912.75. 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, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total transaction of $3,221,340.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total transaction of $659,327.85. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 17,755 shares in the company, valued at $6,303,912.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,202 shares of company stock valued at $6,407,273 in the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $359.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $396.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $427.00 price objective on the stock. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $367.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $392.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, August 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $359.89.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $404.66 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $215.96 and a 1 year high of $405.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $105.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $370.57 and a 200-day moving average of $340.65.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.53. The firm had revenue of $17.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.05 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.40% and a return on equity of 553.13%. The company’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.29 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 22.46 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.16%.

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.