Zacks Research Weighs in on HCA Healthcare, Inc.’s Q2 2025 Earnings (NYSE:HCA)

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) – Zacks Research lifted their Q2 2025 EPS estimates for HCA Healthcare in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, April 8th. Zacks Research analyst Z. Masood now anticipates that the company will earn $5.15 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $5.14. The consensus estimate for HCA Healthcare’s current full-year earnings is $20.49 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for HCA Healthcare’s Q1 2026 earnings at $5.84 EPS.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.85. The business had revenue of $17.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.51 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.64 earnings per share.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $356.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $311.47.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.2 %

HCA stock opened at $327.25 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $319.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $278.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.55 billion, a PE ratio of 17.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.65. HCA Healthcare has a 12 month low of $215.96 and a 12 month high of $335.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Sammie S. Mosier sold 1,645 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total transaction of $513,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,385,552. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Sammie S. Mosier sold 1,645 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total transaction of $513,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,385,552. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total transaction of $1,185,327.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,880,993. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 14,840 shares of company stock valued at $4,588,869. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth about $694,985,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,503,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,219,121,000 after buying an additional 1,183,890 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 112.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,772,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,815,000 after buying an additional 936,823 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 51.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,229,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $534,917,000 after buying an additional 758,127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth about $196,301,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.