MML Investors Services LLC Sells 4,110 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

MML Investors Services LLC lowered its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 23.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,706 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,110 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $4,114,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,655,563 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,498,417,000 after buying an additional 116,826 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,503,849 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,351,830,000 after buying an additional 23,177 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,871,057 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,159,882,000 after buying an additional 50,321 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,928,452 shares of the company's stock worth $878,975,000 after purchasing an additional 19,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth about $840,286,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on HCA. KeyCorp lowered their target price on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird restated a "neutral" rating and set a $336.00 price objective (down from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $384.00 to $376.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $381.13.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA traded up $8.74 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $340.76. 1,416,571 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,395,198. The company has a market cap of $83.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $289.98 and a fifty-two week high of $417.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The firm's fifty day moving average is $330.05 and its 200 day moving average is $331.32.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $0.70. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. The business had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.36 EPS. HCA Healthcare's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is presently 12.81%.

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.