Ritholtz Wealth Management Purchases 1,596 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 24.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,012 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,596 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 92.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on HCA shares. Truist Financial lifted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $271.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, December 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $311.47.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $289,299.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $520,474. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $520,474. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total value of $110,757.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,452 shares in the company, valued at $789,470.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

HCA Healthcare stock traded up $1.71 during trading on Thursday, hitting $333.40. The stock had a trading volume of 812,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,089,559. The stock has a market cap of $88.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $311.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $273.40. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $215.96 and a 1 year high of $334.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.85. The firm had revenue of $17.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.51 billion. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.64 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.49 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.