Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Lowers Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 22.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,269 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,925 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $3,983,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HCA. FMR LLC grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 322.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company's stock worth $1,276,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397,883 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 120.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company's stock worth $262,264,000 after acquiring an additional 476,756 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Group LP bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth $150,548,000. Canoe Financial LP grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 226,952.9% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 231,594 shares of the company's stock worth $69,513,000 after acquiring an additional 231,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 210.6% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 306,796 shares of the company's stock worth $124,691,000 after acquiring an additional 208,015 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HCA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $385.67.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA stock traded up $4.81 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $311.11. The company had a trading volume of 1,413,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,731,940. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $315.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $348.80. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14. The firm has a market cap of $77.26 billion, a PE ratio of 14.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.64. 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 announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the business earned $5.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is 13.11%.

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.