HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV decreased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 91,750 shares of the company’s stock after selling 253 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $27,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Darsana Capital Partners LP grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,225,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,684,000 after acquiring an additional 75,000 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth approximately $147,000. Perbak Capital Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 59.9% during the 4th quarter. Perbak Capital Partners LLP now owns 3,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after buying an additional 1,341 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,017,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,694,000 after buying an additional 223,248 shares during the period. Finally, Prosperity Consulting Group LLC grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 9,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,771,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W cut shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $336.00 price target (down from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of HCA Healthcare from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $381.13.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $342.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $84.43 billion, a PE ratio of 15.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $331.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $331.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $289.98 and a 1 year high of $417.14.

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

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.81%.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.