Freedom Investment Management Inc. Sells 135 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 16.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 669 shares of the company’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of HCA. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% in the third quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 8,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,297,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 7.4% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 421 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.8% during the third quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,652,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,363,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,579. This represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,155 shares of company stock worth $5,608,990 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:HCA opened at $327.22 on Monday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $246.60 and a 52-week high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $371.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $358.84. The company has a market cap of $82.88 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.68.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $438.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have 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 an average price target of $380.29.

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.