Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Sells 4,529 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lowered its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 62.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,772 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,529 shares during the quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $832,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at $209,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,685 shares of the company's stock worth $1,498,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at about $207,000. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 4.9% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 56,838 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,117,000 after acquiring an additional 2,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 17,557 shares of the company's stock worth $7,136,000 after purchasing an additional 3,052 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HCA. StockNews.com downgraded HCA Healthcare from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Barclays cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA traded down $2.82 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $332.17. 777,607 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,383,130. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.78 billion, a PE ratio of 15.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The business's 50 day moving average is $327.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $337.04.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

Insider Activity

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