Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Increases Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 47.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,388 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,362 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HCA. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Tidemark LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HCA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial lowered their target price on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company 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 report on Tuesday, April 15th. KeyCorp dropped their price target 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. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $381.67.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA traded up $3.38 on Friday, hitting $334.38. 1,830,621 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,384,292. The firm's 50-day moving average is $328.55 and its 200 day moving average is $334.13. The company has a market capitalization of $82.32 billion, a PE ratio of 15.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of HCA Healthcare 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently 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.