HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC trimmed its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 43.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,807 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,364 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $542,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. FMR LLC boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 322.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company's stock worth $1,276,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397,883 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 120.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company's stock valued at $262,264,000 after buying an additional 476,756 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Group LP purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at about $150,548,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at about $74,121,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 226,952.9% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 231,594 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,513,000 after buying an additional 231,492 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $313.49 on Thursday. 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 capitalization of $77.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.27, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $318.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $346.27.

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HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 last year, the business earned $5.90 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $385.67.

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.

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