Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 1,299 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,041 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,299 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $11,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,527 shares of the company’s stock worth $711,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.4% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 11,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,756,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,237,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on HCA. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Raymond James boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $277.00 to $301.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total value of $1,185,327.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,899 shares in the company, valued at $4,880,993. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at $520,474. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total transaction of $1,185,327.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,899 shares in the company, valued at $4,880,993. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $300.93 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $320.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $280.82. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12-month low of $215.96 and a 12-month high of $335.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07. The stock has a market cap of $79.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.65.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.85. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. The firm had revenue of $17.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.51 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.64 EPS. HCA Healthcare’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.