HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC lessened its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 18.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,988 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,788 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $4,872,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HCA. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,503,918 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,219,121,000 after buying an additional 1,183,890 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 57.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,792,377 shares of the company's stock valued at $931,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019,750 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the second quarter valued at $131,527,000. Darsana Capital Partners LP raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 53.3% during the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $369,472,000 after acquiring an additional 400,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 1st quarter valued at $95,882,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HCA has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $376.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $427.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $345.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $359.89.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

HCA stock traded up $1.61 during trading on Friday, reaching $394.07. The company had a trading volume of 787,871 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,131,020. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $215.96 and a twelve month high of $409.42. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $384.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $345.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $103.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.67.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.53. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.40% and a return on equity of 553.13%. The business had revenue of $17.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.29 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 22.46 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,438,494.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total transaction of $3,221,340.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total transaction of $659,327.85. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 17,755 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,303,912.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,202 shares of company stock worth $6,407,273 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.