Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Increases Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 129.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,750 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 988 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $526,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd now owns 8,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,401,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Andra AP fonden lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2,182.8% during the 4th quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 52,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,698,000 after purchasing an additional 50,009 shares during the period. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,838,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth $677,000. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 101.9% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 753 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $330.11 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $316.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $347.49. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $289.98 and a 52 week high of $417.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.90 EPS. Analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James lowered HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Truist Financial lowered their price target on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total value of $3,075,250.47. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

About HCA Healthcare

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.