Leuthold Group LLC Sells 40 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Leuthold Group LLC reduced its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,282 shares of the company’s stock after selling 40 shares during the period. Leuthold Group LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $4,949,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 2,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $796,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. AJOVista LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth $123,000. Todd Asset Management LLC raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 226,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,326,000 after purchasing an additional 33,271 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $716,000. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $858,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA traded up $1.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $311.16. 92,285 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,083,957. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26. The stock has a market cap of $81.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $321.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $298.27. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12-month low of $215.96 and a 12-month high of $335.83.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.35. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 674.49% and a net margin of 8.20%. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.74 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 973 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $303,576.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,365 shares in the company, valued at $6,977,880. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 973 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total value of $303,576.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 22,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,977,880. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,455 shares of company stock valued at $2,008,700 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HCA. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $356.00 to $367.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $371.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $316.59.

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.