Korea Investment CORP Lowers Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Korea Investment CORP reduced its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 190,925 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,663 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $57,306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $840,000. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 58,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,626,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168 shares in the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 1,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 61,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,484,000 after acquiring an additional 10,777 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,091,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the 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 directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE:HCA opened at $341.94 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $84.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $323.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $341.86. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $289.98 and a 52 week high of $417.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07.

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

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HCA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. 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 research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on 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 issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

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.