Empirical Finance LLC Has $2.94 Million Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,232 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 98 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 6.7% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,044,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 11.0% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,729,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 1,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $547,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 146.8% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 194,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,858,000 after acquiring an additional 115,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Advisors LLC boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 3.8% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 13,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,569,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of HCA opened at $340.20 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.51, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.68. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $387.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $357.11. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $238.82 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total value of $1,023,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,579. This trade represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. The trade was a 21.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 15,155 shares of company stock valued at $5,608,990. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on HCA. Wolfe Research raised HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $427.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $392.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.00.

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.