Argent Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Argent Advisors Inc. decreased its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,800 shares of the company’s stock after selling 87 shares during the quarter. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cozad Asset Management Inc. raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,018,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 78.9% in the fourth quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC now owns 4,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,375,000 after purchasing an additional 2,021 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 29,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,785,000 after acquiring an additional 3,383 shares in the last quarter. SouthState Corp grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1,211.8% in the fourth quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 3,778 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,134,000 after acquiring an additional 3,490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth $136,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $328.73 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $319.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $344.49. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.96, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $5.90 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.11%.

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.