Plato Investment Management Ltd Grows Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,028 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 258 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE HCA opened at $311.11 on Tuesday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $289.98 and a fifty-two week high of $417.14. The stock has a market cap of $77.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.64. The business has a fifty day moving average of $315.30 and a 200-day moving average of $348.80. 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 released its 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 return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Company 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.