HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Purchased by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 169.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,563 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,756 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $520,474. The sale 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 that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $520,474. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 344 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.97, for a total transaction of $110,757.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,452 shares in the company, valued at $789,470.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,779 shares of company stock valued at $2,421,814. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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 objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $316.59.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock traded up $1.61 during trading on Thursday, hitting $311.05. The stock had a trading volume of 99,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,091,247. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26. The company has a market capitalization of $82.27 billion, a PE ratio of 15.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.66. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $215.96 and a 1 year high of $335.83. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $323.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $296.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.01 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 674.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.93 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 13.16%.

HCA Healthcare Company 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.