Symmetry Investments LP Makes New $1.17 Million Investment in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Symmetry Investments LP purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,169,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,989,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,666,569,000 after acquiring an additional 60,304 shares during the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,404,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,086,836,000 after buying an additional 456,738 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,186,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,757,181,000 after buying an additional 170,560 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,503,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,219,121,000 after buying an additional 1,183,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 57.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,792,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $931,342,000 after buying an additional 1,019,750 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total transaction of $3,221,340.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total transaction of $659,327.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 17,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,303,912.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total transaction of $3,221,340.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,438,494.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,202 shares of company stock worth $6,407,273. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on HCA shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $438.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $359.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $315.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $327.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $359.89.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of HCA stock opened at $404.37 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12-month low of $215.96 and a 12-month high of $405.70. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $370.57 and its 200 day moving average is $340.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.67.

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

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

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.