Of America Corp /De/ Bank Buys 670 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Stock

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) major shareholder Of America Corp /De/ Bank bought 670 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $27.97 per share, for a total transaction of $18,739.90. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company's shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA stock traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $345.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,226,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,348,308. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12 month low of $289.98 and a 12 month high of $417.14. The company has a 50 day moving average of $325.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $340.25.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 in the prior year, the company posted $5.90 EPS. On average, analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

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HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $3,498,417,000 after buying an additional 116,826 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,503,849 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,351,830,000 after purchasing an additional 23,177 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 50,321 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,928,452 shares of the company's stock worth $878,975,000 after buying an additional 19,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at $840,286,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on HCA shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $385.67.

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.