HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI cut its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,413 shares of the company’s stock after selling 836 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $8,232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. abrdn plc increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 164,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,444,000 after acquiring an additional 7,476 shares during the period. Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at about $10,085,000. DNB Asset Management AS raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 60,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,425,000 after buying an additional 7,476 shares in the last quarter. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth about $1,100,000. Finally, Comerica Bank raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 623.3% in the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 43,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,701,000 after purchasing an additional 37,488 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.79, for a total value of $981,728.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,929 shares in the company, valued at $7,647,967.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.79, for a total transaction of $981,728.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,647,967.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total value of $1,305,067.02. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,138,652.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 2.4 %

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $306.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $81.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.29, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.65. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $323.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $295.45. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $215.96 and a one year high of $335.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. The company’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HCA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.88.

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.