Tranquility Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Tranquility Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 12.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,403 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,323 shares during the period. HCA Healthcare comprises about 1.9% of Tranquility Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Tranquility Partners LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $4,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Norges Bank bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at $547,104,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,229,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $534,917,000 after acquiring an additional 758,127 shares during the last quarter. MFN Partners Management LP grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 102.9% during the first quarter. MFN Partners Management LP now owns 1,261,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,081,000 after acquiring an additional 639,701 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 14.1% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,800,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $701,948,000 after acquiring an additional 347,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kinetic Partners Management LP bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth about $50,524,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $356.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.05.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.9 %

HCA stock traded down $2.87 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $311.02. 1,511,041 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,058,563. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $215.96 and a 52-week high of $335.83. The company has a market cap of $82.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $320.15 and its 200-day moving average is $280.61.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.85. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. The company had revenue of $17.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.64 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.66 dividend. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total value of $1,305,067.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total value of $1,305,067.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,138,652.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total value of $1,185,327.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,880,993. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare 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.