Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $230,000 in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $230,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Canoe Financial LP purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at $41,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE HCA opened at $336.93 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $85.34 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.64. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $313.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $353.69. 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.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.89 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 12.02%.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total value of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,415,579. This represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HCA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James downgraded HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America reduced their target price on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

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.