HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Acquired by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,126,550 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,407 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.42% of HCA Healthcare worth $304,935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HCA. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter worth $27,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $520,474. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $520,474. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at $3,138,652.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,455 shares of company stock worth $2,008,700 in the last 90 days. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA traded down $6.53 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $307.92. The company had a trading volume of 453,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,089,387. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $321.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $298.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $80.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.67, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12 month low of $215.96 and a 12 month high of $335.83.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 674.49% and a net margin of 8.20%. The business had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.93 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on HCA shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Truist Financial increased their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $316.59.

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.