New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Sells 600 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lowered its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,900 shares of the company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HCA. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

NYSE:HCA opened at $316.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $313.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $352.25. The stock has a market cap of $80.09 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.64. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $289.98 and a 52 week high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.90 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 12.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp reduced their target price on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a report on Monday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to 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.