HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $474.5263.

HCA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $412.00 to $431.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $425.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of HCA Healthcare from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $485.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $495.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $515.89 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.72 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $445.26 and its 200-day moving average is $403.54. HCA Healthcare has a 1 year low of $289.98 and a 1 year high of $517.40.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 24th. The company reported $6.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.64 by $1.32. The business had revenue of $19.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.55 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.53% and a negative return on equity of 792.25%. HCA Healthcare’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.90 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare has set its FY 2025 guidance at 27.000-28.000 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.13%.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,836 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.84, for a total value of $1,606,670.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,503 shares in the company, valued at $13,194,716.52. The trade was a 10.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael R. Mcalevey sold 3,892 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.79, for a total value of $1,843,990.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,652,105.73. The trade was a 52.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HCA. Capital World Investors increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,959,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,113,662,000 after buying an additional 179,443 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the second quarter worth about $1,152,408,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in HCA Healthcare by 83.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,399,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $829,104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091,416 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,065,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $880,199,000 after purchasing an additional 36,414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 58.5% during the second quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 1,872,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,214,000 after buying an additional 690,773 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

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.