United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Makes New Investment in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $840,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,503,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,351,830,000 after acquiring an additional 23,177 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 322.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,276,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397,883 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 11.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,669,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,842,000 after purchasing an additional 174,946 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 62.0% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,500,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,461,000 after acquiring an additional 574,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,487,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $604,511,000 after purchasing an additional 41,190 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, 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 the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE:HCA opened at $336.12 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $82.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.30, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $322.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $341.89. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $289.98 and a fifty-two week high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on HCA. Morgan Stanley reduced 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 note on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America lowered their price target on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus 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.