CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Purchases 2,462 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 188,971 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,462 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned approximately 0.07% of HCA Healthcare worth $56,726,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $334.38 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $328.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $335.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $289.98 and a fifty-two week high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on HCA shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $381.67.

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.