Cynosure Group LLC Increases Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Cynosure Group LLC boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 114.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,908 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,549 shares during the quarter. Cynosure Group LLC's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $873,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,816 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,241,000 after acquiring an additional 4,285 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Group LP bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth about $150,548,000. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at $18,044,000. NRI Wealth Management LC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,896,000. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 39,543 shares of the company's stock worth $11,869,000 after buying an additional 1,691 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

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 transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on HCA shares. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays cut their price target on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HCA traded down $5.01 on Monday, reaching $326.64. 888,736 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,657,642. The company has a market capitalization of $80.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.85, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $327.23 and a 200-day moving average of $339.04.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 period last year, the company earned $5.90 EPS. On average, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. This is an increase 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 currently 13.11%.

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.