HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Mount Lucas Management LP

Mount Lucas Management LP trimmed its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 60.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,133 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,728 shares during the quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the first quarter valued at approximately $231,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 51.2% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 7,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,543,000 after purchasing an additional 2,584 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the first quarter worth about $95,882,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 225,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,335,000 after purchasing an additional 3,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 118.5% in the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 35,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,425,000 after acquiring an additional 19,247 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $342.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $385.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $357.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $238.82 and a 52-week high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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. This trade represents a 21.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,363,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,155 shares of company stock valued at $5,608,990 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on HCA. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $395.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group raised their price target on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.00.

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.