VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Acquires Shares of 185,804 HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 185,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,443,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 38,348.7% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 89,141,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,755,313,000 after purchasing an additional 88,909,485 shares during the period. Paralel Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the second quarter worth about $1,904,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 22.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after acquiring an additional 635 shares during the period. Kintra Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 48.7% in the 2nd quarter. Kintra Wealth LLC now owns 714 shares of the company’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Finally, Saudi Central Bank grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 85.8% during the second quarter. Saudi Central Bank now owns 10,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,271,000 after purchasing an additional 5,059 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HCA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $402.00 to $387.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $558.00 to $485.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $450.00 price objective on HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $462.64.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $404.95 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $403.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $436.82. The firm has a market cap of $87.67 billion, a PE ratio of 13.56, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.10. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $353.99 and a 1 year high of $556.52.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The company reported $7.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.56 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $20.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.76 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.77% and a negative return on equity of 244.79%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 29.42 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 10.45%.

HCA Healthcare Profile

HCA Healthcare is a for‑profit operator of healthcare facilities headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1968, the company owns and operates a network of hospitals and related healthcare facilities and has grown through organic expansion and acquisitions to become a large provider of inpatient and outpatient services.

The company’s core activities include the operation of acute care hospitals, freestanding surgical and emergency centers, and outpatient clinics. HCA’s services encompass inpatient care, surgical services, emergency medicine, diagnostic imaging and laboratory testing, and various outpatient and ambulatory care offerings.