Trustmark National Bank Trust Department Reduces Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Trustmark National Bank Trust Department reduced its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 19.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,672 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,147 shares during the period. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 571,975 shares of the company's stock valued at $232,467,000 after acquiring an additional 104,409 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $688,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 11.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,669,721 shares of the company's stock worth $660,842,000 after purchasing an additional 174,946 shares during the last quarter. American Trust purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at approximately $372,000. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth $3,278,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA traded up $3.38 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $334.38. The company had a trading volume of 1,830,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,385,363. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $328.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $334.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The stock has a market cap of $82.32 billion, a P/E 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.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 previous year, the firm earned $5.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp cut their price target on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays cut their price target on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $381.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

HCA Healthcare 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.