Artemis Investment Management LLP Sells 8,299 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Artemis Investment Management LLP lowered its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 54.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,897 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,299 shares during the quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 1,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,838,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $621,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barden Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.32, for a total transaction of $5,797,585.36. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,646 shares in the company, valued at $4,670,420.72. This represents a 55.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on HCA shares. Stephens upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $410.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $336.00 price objective (down from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $394.33.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $379.00 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $366.55 and its 200 day moving average is $336.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.19. The company has a market capitalization of $91.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.49. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 1,063.91% and a net margin of 8.07%. The business had revenue of $18.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.36 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.81%.

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.