Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 50,321 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,871,057 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,321 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,159,882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 156,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,951,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 13,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,118,000 after buying an additional 1,210 shares during the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at about $64,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 20,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,243,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 353,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,164,000 after purchasing an additional 9,015 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE:HCA opened at $345.86 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $85.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.74, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $325.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $340.25. 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

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.