Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. Cuts Stock Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 35.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,152 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,279 shares during the period. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $6,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $18,044,000. NRI Wealth Management LC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,896,000. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 39,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,869,000 after acquiring an additional 1,691 shares during the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,122,000. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 116,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,840,000 after purchasing an additional 8,329 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $332.19 on Tuesday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12 month low of $289.98 and a 12 month high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $330.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $331.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.79 billion, a PE ratio of 15.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.75 by $0.70. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. The firm had revenue of $18.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.36 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.81%.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on HCA shares. KeyCorp cut 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. Baird R W lowered HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays cut their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $336.00 price target (down from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $381.13.

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.