California Public Employees Retirement System Purchases 9,015 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 353,702 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,015 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $106,164,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth $39,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1,250.0% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $346.08 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $289.98 and a 1 year high of $417.14. The company has a market capitalization of $85.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The business has a 50-day moving average of $325.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $340.60.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.90 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.11%.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total value of $3,075,250.47. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced their price target on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. 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 note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.