New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 343,672 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,905 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $103,153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE HCA opened at $320.82 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $81.26 billion, a PE ratio of 14.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $289.98 and a fifty-two week high of $417.14. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $313.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $351.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the business posted $5.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HCA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $385.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.