Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 2,786 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 35.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,991 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,786 shares during the quarter. HCA Healthcare makes up approximately 0.6% of Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 6.7% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,127 shares of the company's stock worth $3,044,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,184 shares of the company's stock worth $1,729,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 6.6% during the first quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 1,640 shares of the company's stock valued at $547,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 146.8% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 194,460 shares of the company's stock worth $64,858,000 after buying an additional 115,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 3.8% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 13,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,569,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,363,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 15,155 shares of company stock valued at $5,608,990. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.7 %

HCA stock traded down $2.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $342.96. 1,859,026 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,186,316. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $386.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $357.03. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $238.82 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $86.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.68.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on HCA shares. KeyCorp reduced their target price on HCA Healthcare from $475.00 to $420.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group raised their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $438.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $395.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $385.00.

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.