Plato Investment Management Ltd Acquires New Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 6,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,682,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth $26,000. Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HCA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $525.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $476.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, July 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $558.00 to $485.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $450.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $465.59.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

HCA opened at $404.61 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $393.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $446.61. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $353.99 and a fifty-two week high of $556.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.55, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.10.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The company reported $7.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.56 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $20.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.76 billion. HCA Healthcare had a negative return on equity of 244.79% and a net margin of 8.77%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.84 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 29.47 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.45%.

About HCA Healthcare

HCA Healthcare is a for‑profit operator of healthcare facilities headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1968, the company owns and operates a network of hospitals and related healthcare facilities and has grown through organic expansion and acquisitions to become a large provider of inpatient and outpatient services.

The company’s core activities include the operation of acute care hospitals, freestanding surgical and emergency centers, and outpatient clinics. HCA’s services encompass inpatient care, surgical services, emergency medicine, diagnostic imaging and laboratory testing, and various outpatient and ambulatory care offerings.