HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Purchased by Natixis Advisors L.P.

Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 15.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 108,964 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,550 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $29,494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth $27,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HCA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer upped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $371.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $316.59.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE HCA opened at $307.76 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.96 and a 52 week high of $335.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.40 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $322.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $297.73.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.35. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 674.49%. The business had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.93 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 13.16%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total value of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total value of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total transaction of $110,757.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,470.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,127 shares of company stock worth $2,218,364. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.