Invesco Ltd. Sells 228,529 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 14.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,356,517 shares of the company's stock after selling 228,529 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.54% of HCA Healthcare worth $407,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth approximately $840,286,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 62.0% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,500,786 shares of the company's stock valued at $450,461,000 after acquiring an additional 574,239 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at $74,121,000. Finally, Canoe Financial LP lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 226,952.9% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 231,594 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,513,000 after acquiring an additional 231,492 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on HCA. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com cut HCA Healthcare from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA traded up $3.44 during trading on Monday, hitting $336.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 231,105 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,386,573. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. 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 business's fifty day simple moving average is $327.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $336.07.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business posted $5.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Company 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.