Teacher Retirement System of Texas Sells 11,754 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 11.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 93,650 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,754 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $32,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Sanders Capital LLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,655,563 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,498,417,000 after purchasing an additional 116,826 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,503,849 shares of the company's stock worth $1,351,830,000 after purchasing an additional 23,177 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,871,057 shares of the company's stock worth $1,159,882,000 after buying an additional 50,321 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,928,452 shares of the company's stock worth $878,975,000 after purchasing an additional 19,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth approximately $840,286,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jon M. Foster sold 15,698 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.32, for a total transaction of $5,797,585.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,646 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,670,420.72. The trade was a 55.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 1.4%

HCA Healthcare stock traded down $5.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $372.84. 943,125 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,461,363. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $371.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $339.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.58, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.47.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $0.70. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 1,063.91%. The company had revenue of $18.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.36 EPS. HCA Healthcare's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is 12.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Baird R W cut shares of HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $336.00 target price (down previously from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $404.00 price objective (up from $376.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim began coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $395.71.

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.