GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 204 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 18.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,290 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,989,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,666,569,000 after acquiring an additional 60,304 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,404,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,086,836,000 after buying an additional 456,738 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,186,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,757,181,000 after acquiring an additional 170,560 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,503,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,219,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 57.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,792,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $931,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019,750 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 6,311 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.88, for a total value of $1,999,829.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,387,253.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.00, for a total value of $494,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 34,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,544,316. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 6,311 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.88, for a total value of $1,999,829.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,387,253.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,268 shares of company stock worth $6,804,285. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on HCA shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $345.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $376.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $329.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $344.06.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

HCA stock traded down $6.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $356.36. The stock had a trading volume of 1,604,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,536,892. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $334.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $324.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $91.97 billion, a PE ratio of 17.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $215.96 and a 52-week high of $369.41.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.97 by $0.53. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.40% and a return on equity of 553.13%. The firm had revenue of $17.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 22.43 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

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.