Distillate Capital Partners LLC Buys Shares of 80,494 HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Distillate Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 80,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,160,000. HCA Healthcare comprises approximately 1.2% of Distillate Capital Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth $840,286,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 62.0% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,500,786 shares of the company's stock worth $450,461,000 after buying an additional 574,239 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 120.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company's stock valued at $262,264,000 after acquiring an additional 476,756 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth approximately $74,121,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 226,952.9% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 231,594 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,513,000 after purchasing an additional 231,492 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:HCA traded up $4.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $335.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,073,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,388,478. The stock has a market cap of $82.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $328.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $335.60. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14.

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

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on HCA shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays cut their price target on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $381.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total value of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About HCA Healthcare

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.