Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan Acquires New Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 3,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $944,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Mariner LLC raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 88,969 shares of the company's stock worth $26,704,000 after buying an additional 823 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 85.7% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,061,891 shares of the company's stock valued at $318,727,000 after purchasing an additional 489,916 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 839 shares of the company's stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,655,563 shares of the company's stock worth $3,498,417,000 after purchasing an additional 116,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC now owns 4,956 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,488,000 after purchasing an additional 818 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HCA traded up $3.38 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $334.38. 1,830,621 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,384,292. The stock has a market cap of $82.32 billion, a PE ratio of 15.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The business's fifty day moving average is $328.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $333.73.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.90 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W downgraded HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Guggenheim started coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $381.67.

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.