Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Purchases 1,600 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,869 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $11,366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HCA. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 2.5% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,382 shares of the company's stock worth $1,374,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 40,544.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 20,322 shares of the company's stock worth $82,590,000 after buying an additional 20,272 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at $251,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 18,608 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,504,000 after buying an additional 1,093 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 3,806 shares of the company's stock worth $1,547,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE:HCA traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $320.55. The stock had a trading volume of 1,788,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,694,602. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $314.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $350.12. 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 $79.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.59, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14.

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

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is 13.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HCA. Wells Fargo & Company lowered HCA Healthcare from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. StockNews.com downgraded HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $385.67.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of HCA Healthcare 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company 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.