Ieq Capital LLC Buys 2,075 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 32.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,408 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,075 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 35.7% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,503,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,219,121,000 after buying an additional 1,183,890 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 57.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,792,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $931,342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019,750 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,404,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,086,836,000 after buying an additional 456,738 shares during the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 2nd quarter valued at $131,527,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 230.5% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 553,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,747,000 after acquiring an additional 385,854 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $327.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays raised their target price on HCA Healthcare from $376.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $427.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $392.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $359.89.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total value of $659,327.85. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 17,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,303,912.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 1,857 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.05, for a total value of $659,327.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 17,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,303,912.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value 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 approximately $11,438,494.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,202 shares of company stock worth $6,407,273 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $404.66 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $105.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.17, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.67. The company’s fifty day moving average is $370.57 and its 200 day moving average is $340.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.96 and a 52 week high of $405.70.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.50 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 business had revenue of $17.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.29 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate 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 dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 13.16%.

HCA Healthcare 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.