Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Trims Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp decreased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 238,038 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,883 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $78,926,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 461 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.4% during the first quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 2,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $881,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on HCA shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Baird R W raised HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $396.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $327.06.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA Healthcare stock traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $322.16. 1,239,846 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,466,738. The company has a market capitalization of $84.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $215.96 and a 1 year high of $344.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.16. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $327.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $321.72.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 674.49%. HCA Healthcare’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.93 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.97 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 13.16%.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.00, for a total transaction of $494,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,544,316. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.00, for a total value of $494,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,544,316. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 973 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,397 shares of company stock worth $3,921,929. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.