Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 208,920 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,350 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned 0.08% of HCA Healthcare worth $62,707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,503,849 shares of the company's stock worth $1,351,830,000 after acquiring an additional 23,177 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth $840,286,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,669,721 shares of the company's stock worth $660,842,000 after acquiring an additional 174,946 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 62.0% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,500,786 shares of the company's stock valued at $450,461,000 after acquiring an additional 574,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,339,638 shares of the company's stock valued at $544,467,000 after purchasing an additional 143,995 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of HCA stock traded up $5.00 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $352.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 901,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,348,038. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $289.98 and a 52-week high of $417.14. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $326.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $340.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $86.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.02, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company earned $5.90 EPS. Research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors 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 0.82%. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is 13.11%.

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.