Park Avenue Securities LLC Trims Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lessened its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,988 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,788 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $4,872,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth $203,000. Czech National Bank increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 37,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,384,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 421 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 28.7% during the second quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 5,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,787,000 after buying an additional 1,241 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 2nd quarter valued at $7,110,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

HCA Healthcare stock traded up $1.61 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $394.07. 787,871 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,131,020. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.06. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $215.96 and a fifty-two week high of $409.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $384.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $345.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.21 billion, a PE ratio of 19.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.67.

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 net margin of 8.40% and a return on equity of 553.13%. The firm had revenue of $17.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 22.46 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 13.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HCA. Leerink Partners raised their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $367.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $376.00 to $396.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Wolfe Research upgraded HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $359.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Christopher F. Wyatt sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.20, for a total transaction of $1,440,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,569,729.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Christopher F. Wyatt sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.20, for a total transaction of $1,440,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,569,729.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total transaction of $659,327.85. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 17,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,303,912.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 17,202 shares of company stock valued at $6,407,273. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Company Profile

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.