HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Argent Trust Co

Argent Trust Co decreased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,378 shares of the company’s stock after selling 581 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 1st quarter worth about $231,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 29.9% during the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 13,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,636,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,404,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,086,836,000 after acquiring an additional 456,738 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 60.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 365,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,065,000 after acquiring an additional 138,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 1st quarter valued at about $566,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

NYSE HCA opened at $399.89 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $367.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $339.56. The stock has a market cap of $104.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.67. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.96 and a 52 week high of $404.90.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.97 by $0.53. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 553.13% and a net margin of 8.40%. The company had revenue of $17.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.29 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 22.46 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the subject of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $359.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $327.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $359.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,678 shares in the company, valued at $11,438,494.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total value of $659,327.85. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 17,755 shares in the company, valued at $6,303,912.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,678 shares in the company, valued at $11,438,494.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,202 shares of company stock worth $6,407,273 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.