Cannell & Co. Sells 2,393 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Cannell & Co. lowered its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 50,687 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,393 shares during the quarter. Cannell & Co.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $13,720,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HCA. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total transaction of $203,450.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,491.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total transaction of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,138,652.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total transaction of $203,450.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,491.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,779 shares of company stock worth $2,421,814. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA traded up $1.00 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $310.82. The stock had a trading volume of 261,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,096,485. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $323.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $296.11. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $215.96 and a fifty-two week high of $335.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.65.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.35. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 674.49%. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.93 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.82 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on HCA. Barclays increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $356.00 to $367.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $316.59.

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.