Ritholtz Wealth Management Raises Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 24.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,012 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,596 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 92.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

HCA Healthcare stock traded up $1.71 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $333.40. 812,720 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,089,559. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.18. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $215.96 and a fifty-two week high of $334.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $311.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $273.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.85. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. The firm had revenue of $17.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.49 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HCA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $277.00 to $301.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $356.00 price target on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $311.47.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,880,993. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,899 shares in the company, valued at $4,880,993. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total value of $203,450.08. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About HCA Healthcare

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.