Acropolis Investment Management LLC Acquires 47 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Acropolis Investment Management LLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,579 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,582,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of HCA. Norges Bank purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth $840,286,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 40,527.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,703,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,887,850,000 after buying an additional 1,699,713 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 62.0% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,500,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $450,461,000 after buying an additional 574,239 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 85.7% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,061,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,727,000 after buying an additional 489,916 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 120.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,264,000 after buying an additional 476,756 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HCA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $384.00 to $376.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of HCA Healthcare from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $320.00 to $385.00 in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $410.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $392.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.32, for a total transaction of $5,797,585.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 12,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,670,420.72. This trade represents a 55.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $370.76 on Monday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12-month low of $289.98 and a 12-month high of $417.14. The stock has a market cap of $89.20 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The company has a 50-day moving average of $358.43 and a 200 day moving average of $333.23.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $0.70. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. The company had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.36 EPS. HCA Healthcare’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.81%.

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.