Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Buys New Shares in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 9th, 2023

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA – Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $267,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MFN Partners Management LP lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 102.9% in the first quarter. MFN Partners Management LP now owns 1,261,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,081,000 after buying an additional 639,701 shares in the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 152.3% during the 3rd quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 740,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,038,000 after purchasing an additional 446,839 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 793.4% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 489,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,024,000 after purchasing an additional 434,996 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 134.0% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 701,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,982,000 after buying an additional 401,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,305,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $975,198,000 after acquiring an additional 354,202 shares in the last quarter. 64.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $235.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $265.00 to $296.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $217.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $237.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 13th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $240.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Monday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.41.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $270.59 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $255.58 and a 200 day moving average of $237.48. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.47 and a 12 month high of $279.02. The stock has a market cap of $75.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 27th. The company reported $4.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.79 by ($0.15). HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 9.37% and a negative return on equity of 1,260.96%. The business had revenue of $15.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 17.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 17th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 16th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 12.48%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Friday, January 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 16,424 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.98, for a total transaction of $4,138,519.52. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,756,157.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP P. Martin Paslick sold 3,034 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $265.00, for a total transaction of $804,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 24,643 shares in the company, valued at $6,530,395. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jon M. Foster sold 16,424 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.98, for a total value of $4,138,519.52. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,756,157.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 82,933 shares of company stock worth $21,264,504 in the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About HCA Healthcare

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HCA Healthcare, Inc is a health care services company engaged in operating hospitals, freestanding surgery centers and emergency care facilities, urgent care facilities, walk-in clinics, diagnostic and imaging centers, radiation and oncology therapy centers, comprehensive rehabilitation and physical therapy centers, physician practices, home health, hospice, outpatient physical therapy home and community-based services providers, and various other facilities.