HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Generate Investment Management Ltd

Generate Investment Management Ltd reduced its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 72.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 25,164 shares of the company’s stock after selling 66,580 shares during the quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $8,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sanders Capital LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,655,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,498,417,000 after purchasing an additional 116,826 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,503,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,351,830,000 after purchasing an additional 23,177 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,871,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,159,882,000 after purchasing an additional 50,321 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,928,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $878,975,000 after buying an additional 19,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at about $840,286,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 12,646 shares in the company, valued at $4,670,420.72. This trade represents a 55.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $379.06 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $363.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $335.66. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $289.98 and a 52 week high of $417.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.85, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $0.70. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 1,063.91%. The company had revenue of $18.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.36 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HCA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of HCA Healthcare from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $320.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of HCA Healthcare from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley set a $410.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Barclays set a $416.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $394.33.

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.