Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Acquires 35 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 461 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.79, for a total value of $981,728.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,929 shares in the company, valued at $7,647,967.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.79, for a total value of $981,728.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,929 shares in the company, valued at $7,647,967.91. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the company’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 owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on HCA. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $356.00 price target for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong 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 $310.88.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $319.14 on Thursday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $215.96 and a one year high of $335.83. The company has a 50 day moving average of $324.43 and a 200-day moving average of $293.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $84.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.65.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $16.51 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has approved 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 purchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is currently 13.91%.

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.