Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Raises Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,474,238 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 156,757 shares during the quarter. HCA Healthcare comprises 1.1% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $399,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on HCA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $327.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $356.00 to $367.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.59.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA Healthcare stock traded down $2.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $337.47. 747,441 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 935,055. The company has a market capitalization of $88.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.82, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.02. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12-month low of $215.96 and a 12-month high of $343.53. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $320.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $313.21.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 674.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.93 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total value of $110,757.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $789,470.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 973 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $303,576.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,977,880. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total value of $110,757.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $789,470.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,617 shares of company stock valued at $4,321,986 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.