Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Makes New Investment in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,060,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 322.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,276,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397,883 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Group LP acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth $150,548,000. Canoe Financial LP grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 226,952.9% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 231,594 shares of the company's stock worth $69,513,000 after buying an additional 231,492 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 210.6% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 29.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 843,764 shares of the company's stock valued at $253,020,000 after purchasing an additional 193,075 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HCA shares. StockNews.com cut shares of HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Barclays dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $382.19.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

NYSE:HCA traded down $3.61 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $328.39. 2,498,640 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,820,449. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $313.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $353.24. The company has a market cap of $83.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $281.61 and a 52-week high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the business earned $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 21.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. 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 dividend yield of 0.88%. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.85%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,363,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,843 shares of the company's stock, 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. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

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.