HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,830 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,152 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HCA. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays began coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $356.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total transaction of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total value of $1,305,067.02. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,138,652.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA opened at $319.14 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $84.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.81, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $324.43 and a 200-day moving average of $293.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $215.96 and a 52 week high of $335.83.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.85. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 996.30% and a net margin of 8.07%. The company had revenue of $17.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.64 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.58 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.