Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC Raises Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 250,688 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,814 shares during the period. HCA Healthcare comprises about 3.8% of Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $67,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. abrdn plc increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.8% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 164,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,444,000 after buying an additional 7,476 shares during the period. Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth about $10,085,000. DNB Asset Management AS increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 60,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,425,000 after buying an additional 7,476 shares during the period. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth about $1,100,000. Finally, Comerica Bank increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 623.3% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 43,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,701,000 after purchasing an additional 37,488 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total transaction of $1,185,327.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,880,993. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Sammie S. Mosier sold 1,645 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $513,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,385,552. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total transaction of $1,185,327.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,880,993. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $356.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.05.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 2.3 %

HCA stock traded up $6.84 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $303.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 581,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,074,349. The company has a market cap of $80.36 billion, a PE ratio of 16.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.65. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12 month low of $215.96 and a 12 month high of $335.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $320.06 and its 200-day moving average is $280.94.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.85. The business had revenue of $17.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.51 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.64 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 13.91%.

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.