Sterling Capital Management LLC Trims Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Sterling Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 56,291 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,513 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $16,896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,816 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,241,000 after buying an additional 4,285 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 571,975 shares of the company's stock worth $232,467,000 after purchasing an additional 104,409 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,427 shares of the company's stock worth $1,374,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 14.0% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,377 shares of the company's stock worth $966,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 4,585 shares of the company's stock worth $1,863,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company's 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 directly owns 15,412 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock traded down $2.78 on Wednesday, hitting $332.77. The stock had a trading volume of 494,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,387,888. The stock has a market cap of $81.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.15, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $327.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $335.63.

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 return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.72 dividend. 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 yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial reduced their price target on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $381.67.

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.