HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Scotia Capital Inc.

Scotia Capital Inc. trimmed its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,948 shares of the company's stock after selling 946 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc.'s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Evexia Wealth LLC raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Evexia Wealth LLC now owns 9,748 shares of the company's stock worth $3,139,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,962,000. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 125.2% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 178,206 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,655,000 after acquiring an additional 99,083 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Group LLC raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Group LLC now owns 92,645 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,807,000 after purchasing an additional 3,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 48,317 shares of the company's stock worth $14,502,000 after buying an additional 787 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.0 %

HCA traded up $3.38 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $334.38. 1,830,621 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,390,869. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $328.34 and a 200 day moving average of $335.10. 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 firm has a market cap of $82.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12-month low of $289.98 and a 12-month high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.90 EPS. 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HCA. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. KeyCorp reduced 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. Barclays reduced their price target on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $381.67.

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.