HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Bought by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC raised its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 22.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 571,975 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 104,409 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.23% of HCA Healthcare worth $232,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 31.7% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,816 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,241,000 after purchasing an additional 4,285 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Group LP purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $150,548,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $869,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 55.9% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 31,750 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,904,000 after buying an additional 11,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1.6% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 225,146 shares of the company's stock valued at $72,335,000 after buying an additional 3,516 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 1.2 %

HCA stock traded down $3.99 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $328.01. The company had a trading volume of 1,483,974 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,758,030. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $281.61 and a 52-week high of $417.14. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $313.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $353.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 520.98%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 21.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This is a boost 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 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.85%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total value of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at $2,415,579. This trade represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $382.19.

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.