HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Bought by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 53.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 155,878 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 54,293 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.06% of HCA Healthcare worth $63,353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Bangor Savings Bank grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 112.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 85 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 284.0% in the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 96 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the second quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,415,579. This trade represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. This trade represents a 21.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,155 shares of company stock valued at $5,608,990 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on HCA. UBS Group increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $438.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $396.00 to $392.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered HCA Healthcare from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $380.29.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE:HCA traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $319.75. The stock had a trading volume of 1,329,227 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,410,131. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.36, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $363.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $358.89. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $252.85 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.12.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.85%.

HCA Healthcare 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.