Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,679 shares of the company’s stock after selling 80 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 92.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 108 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total transaction of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total transaction of $1,305,067.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. 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. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.05.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 2.7 %

HCA opened at $313.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $83.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $320.15 and its 200 day moving average is $280.61. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $215.96 and a fifty-two week high of $335.83.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.85. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. The firm had revenue of $17.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.64 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program 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 programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.91%.

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.