Westpac Banking Corp Grows Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Westpac Banking Corp boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,706 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,302 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $7,416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth about $840,286,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 62.0% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,500,786 shares of the company's stock valued at $450,461,000 after purchasing an additional 574,239 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 120.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company's stock valued at $262,264,000 after buying an additional 476,756 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Group LP bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth approximately $150,548,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $74,121,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HCA. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on 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. Barclays cut their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $385.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In related 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 transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

HCA traded up $10.47 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $340.10. 763,115 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,364,461. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $83.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $327.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $338.52.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the firm posted $5.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

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.