Ieq Capital LLC Purchases 2,075 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 32.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,408 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,075 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the first quarter valued at about $231,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 29.9% in the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 13,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,636,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,404,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,086,836,000 after acquiring an additional 456,738 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 60.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 365,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,065,000 after acquiring an additional 138,146 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 1st quarter valued at about $566,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on HCA shares. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $427.00 target price for the company. Baird R W upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $376.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $359.89.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,438,494.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other HCA Healthcare news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 2,987 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.51, for a total transaction of $1,085,804.37. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,436,623.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,202 shares of company stock worth $6,407,273 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $404.66 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.96 and a 52 week high of $405.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $370.57 and a 200-day moving average of $340.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.67.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $17.49 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 22.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 13.16%.

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.