HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Stock Holdings Reduced by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,769 shares of the company’s stock after selling 176 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $3,833,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Prakash Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at $240,000. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 66.7% during the 4th quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 10,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,152,000 after acquiring an additional 4,200 shares in the last quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC now owns 7,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,125,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,307,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares during the period. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 1,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $316.07 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $78.49 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $313.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $350.84. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James downgraded HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.67.

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.