HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,045 shares of the company’s stock after selling 112 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $283,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,899 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,138,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 14,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after acquiring an additional 774 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at $3,248,000. Simplicity Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 33,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,078,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA opened at $322.39 on Tuesday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $320.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $280.13. The firm has a market cap of $85.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99, a PEG ratio of 1.62 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.85. The firm had revenue of $17.30 billion during 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%. HCA Healthcare’s revenue for the quarter 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. Equities research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is a boost 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $356.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.05.

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.