1,374 Shares in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Bought by Auxano Advisors LLC

Auxano Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at about $206,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $689,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 5.8% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 0.6% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 24,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,090,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 37,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,280,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of HCA traded down $1.60 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $309.82. The stock had a trading volume of 946,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,106,670. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.96 and a 52 week high of $335.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $323.67 and a 200 day moving average of $295.56. The company has a market cap of $81.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 674.49%. The business’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.79, for a total transaction of $981,728.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,647,967.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.79, for a total transaction of $981,728.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,647,967.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total transaction of $110,757.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,452 shares in the company, valued at $789,470.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869 in the last ninety days. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HCA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.