Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super Takes Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super bought a new position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 99,436 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,846,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $944,000. Mariner LLC increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 88,969 shares of the company's stock worth $26,704,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 85.7% in the 4th 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 holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,655,563 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,498,417,000 after acquiring an additional 116,826 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:HCA traded up $3.38 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $334.38. 1,830,621 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,385,363. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $328.55 and a 200 day moving average of $334.61. The stock has a market cap of $82.32 billion, a PE ratio of 15.22, a PEG 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.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given 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 was Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Baird R W downgraded HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered HCA Healthcare from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $381.67.

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.