Picton Mahoney Asset Management Reduces Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Picton Mahoney Asset Management lessened its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,680 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,435 shares during the quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,621,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $322.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com upgraded HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Truist Financial upped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $356.00 to $367.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $316.59.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of HCA stock traded down $5.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $309.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,023,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,096,014. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.66. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $215.96 and a one year high of $335.83. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $321.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $298.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.93 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.74 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

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

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,600 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.00, for a total transaction of $494,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,124 shares in the company, valued at $10,544,316. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other HCA Healthcare news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,600 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.00, for a total transaction of $494,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,124 shares in the company, valued at $10,544,316. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 value of $110,757.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $789,470.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,055 shares of company stock worth $2,503,100 over the last ninety days. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.