Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Cuts Stock Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,830 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,152 shares during the quarter. 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).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $319.14 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.18 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. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $324.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $293.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.81, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.65.

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

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

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

HCA Healthcare declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HCA. Raymond James increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $310.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $520,474. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $3,138,652.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was 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 owns 1,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.