HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Shares Sold by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,640 shares of the company’s stock after selling 220 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $4,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 322.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,276,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397,883 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 120.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,264,000 after purchasing an additional 476,756 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Group LP bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $150,548,000. Canoe Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 226,952.9% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 231,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,513,000 after purchasing an additional 231,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 210.6% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 306,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,691,000 after purchasing an additional 208,015 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HCA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $319.65 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $314.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $350.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.55, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $5.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.11%.

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.