Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Invests $255,000 in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. abrdn plc grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth $10,085,000. DNB Asset Management AS grew its position 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 valued at $16,425,000 after purchasing an additional 7,476 shares during the period. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth about $1,100,000. Finally, Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 623.3% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 43,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,701,000 after acquiring 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

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total value of $1,305,067.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,138,652.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other HCA Healthcare news, 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 value of $1,185,327.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,899 shares in the company, valued at $4,880,993. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total transaction of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA opened at $310.31 on Tuesday. 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 has a market cap of $82.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.65. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.96 and a 52 week high of $335.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $324.59 and a 200-day moving average of $292.52.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.85. The business had revenue of $17.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.51 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.64 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 13.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on HCA shares. StockNews.com raised HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.05.

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.