Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Raises Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 19.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 91,571 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,071 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $37,217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 322.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,276,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397,883 shares in the last quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 53.3% during the second quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $369,472,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.7% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 741,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,110,000 after buying an additional 19,812 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 16.4% during the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 631,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,002,000 after buying an additional 88,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 11.9% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 550,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,802,000 after buying an additional 58,353 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA stock opened at $325.47 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $373.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $358.28. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $245.84 and a 52-week high of $417.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.61, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.12.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total transaction of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. This trade represents a 21.97 % 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 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on HCA shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $438.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $427.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp cut their target price on HCA Healthcare from $475.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. TD Cowen cut their target price on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.