Calamos Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Calamos Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 54,187 shares of the company’s stock after selling 708 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $14,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth about $547,104,000. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,229,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $534,917,000 after purchasing an additional 758,127 shares during the last quarter. MFN Partners Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 102.9% during the 1st quarter. MFN Partners Management LP now owns 1,261,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,081,000 after purchasing an additional 639,701 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,800,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $701,948,000 after buying an additional 347,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kinetic Partners Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth about $50,524,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on HCA shares. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $356.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein cut HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.05.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total transaction of $203,450.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,491.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,880,993. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total transaction of $203,450.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 290 shares in the company, valued at $90,491.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 2.5 %

HCA traded up $7.39 on Friday, hitting $304.39. 326,070 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,070,720. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $320.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $280.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07. The company has a market cap of $80.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.65. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $215.96 and a twelve month high of $335.83.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.85. The company had revenue of $17.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.51 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.64 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership 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.