Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. Grows Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA – Get Rating) by 27.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,119 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,790 shares during the quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $3,148,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 1,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc now owns 2,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. LWM Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.9% during the third quarter. LWM Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 9.4% during the third quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 638 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $283.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, March 13th. Cowen lifted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $238.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $240.00 to $275.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $265.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $260.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.41.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock traded down $3.72 on Friday, hitting $250.66. 1,123,222 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,289,624. The stock has a market cap of $69.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.03, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $254.15 and its 200 day moving average is $231.94. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.47 and a 52-week high of $279.02.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 27th. The company reported $4.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.79 by ($0.15). HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 9.37% and a negative return on equity of 1,260.96%. The business had revenue of $15.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 17.16 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 16th. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.48%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Friday, January 27th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Bill B. Rutherford sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $258.19, for a total transaction of $7,745,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,632 shares in the company, valued at $21,076,566.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other HCA Healthcare news, insider Timothy M. Mcmanus sold 7,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.06, for a total value of $2,007,074.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,987 shares in the company, valued at $3,553,537.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Bill B. Rutherford sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.19, for a total value of $7,745,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 81,632 shares in the company, valued at $21,076,566.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 79,899 shares of company stock worth $20,460,494 over the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About HCA Healthcare

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HCA Healthcare, Inc is a health care services company engaged in operating hospitals, freestanding surgery centers and emergency care facilities, urgent care facilities, walk-in clinics, diagnostic and imaging centers, radiation and oncology therapy centers, comprehensive rehabilitation and physical therapy centers, physician practices, home health, hospice, outpatient physical therapy home and community-based services providers, and various other facilities.