B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 42.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,969 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,463 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $633,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 112.5% during the second quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 85 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the second quarter worth $27,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the second quarter worth $28,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 284.0% during the second quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 96 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $394.07 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $384.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $345.58. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $215.96 and a fifty-two week high of $409.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued 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. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 553.13% and a net margin of 8.40%. The business had revenue of $17.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 22.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HCA. Barclays increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $376.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $345.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $427.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $392.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $359.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of the firm’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 value of $659,327.85. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 17,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,303,912.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of the firm’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 value of $659,327.85. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 17,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,303,912.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 17,202 shares of company stock worth $6,407,273. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About HCA Healthcare

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.