1,750 HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 172,868 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,750 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.08% of HCA Healthcare worth $73,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 171.7% during the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 6,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,954,000 after acquiring an additional 3,945 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 27.5% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 467,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,380,000 after acquiring an additional 100,764 shares in the last quarter. SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the first quarter valued at approximately $75,534,000. Darsana Capital Partners LP lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 46.7% during the second quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,100,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $428,879,000 after purchasing an additional 350,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fund 1 Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the second quarter valued at $975,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HCA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $496.00 to $521.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $558.00 to $485.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen raised HCA Healthcare from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $435.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $480.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, EVP Michael J. Schlosser sold 1,200 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $494.65, for a total value of $593,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 1,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $713,779.95. The trade was a 45.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jon Foster sold 21,713 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $494.95, for a total transaction of $10,746,849.35. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $4,949,500. This trade represents a 68.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,913 shares of company stock valued at $16,481,129. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA stock opened at $504.85 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.73, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.11. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $353.99 and a one year high of $556.52. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $445.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $445.45.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $7.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.65 by $0.57. HCA Healthcare had a negative return on equity of 198.52% and a net margin of 8.61%. The firm had revenue of $19.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.96 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 30.15 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 15th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.34%.

HCA Healthcare Profile

HCA Healthcare is a healthcare services company that operates hospitals and other care facilities. Its services include inpatient and outpatient care, emergency treatment, surgery, diagnostic services and specialized care across areas such as cancer and cardiovascular medicine.

The company serves patients in the United States and the United Kingdom through its network of hospitals and outpatient facilities, including surgery centers, urgent care clinics and physician practices.

Founded in 1968, HCA Healthcare is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.