Pacer Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 46.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,315 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,798 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $6,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HCA. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Canoe Financial LP purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at $41,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on HCA. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. StockNews.com cut shares of HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial dropped 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $382.19.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

HCA Healthcare stock traded up $7.04 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $334.66. 1,192,084 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,751,474. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.77 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $289.98 and a fifty-two week high of $417.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $313.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $353.09. 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 (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 520.98%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 21.75 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. 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. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is currently 11.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total value of $1,023,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,415,579. This represents a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company 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.