Chase Investment Counsel Corp Trims Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Chase Investment Counsel Corp reduced its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 69.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,926 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,100 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,152,408,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 6,115.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 911,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $388,309,000 after buying an additional 896,437 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 1,872,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,214,000 after acquiring an additional 690,773 shares during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth about $106,605,000. Finally, HRT Financial LP acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the second quarter valued at about $81,596,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.09, for a total value of $747,135.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,944,194.27. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 8,020 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.58, for a total value of $4,126,931.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,171,357.94. This represents a 40.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 15,214 shares of company stock valued at $7,797,595 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley cut HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $425.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, December 15th. Leerink Partners boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $507.00 to $573.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $541.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $423.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $503.00 price target on HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $532.45.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $535.21 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $489.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $456.86. The company has a market capitalization of $119.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.36. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $295.00 and a 1 year high of $552.90.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The company reported $8.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.37 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $19.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. HCA Healthcare had a negative return on equity of 409.11% and a net margin of 8.97%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.22 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare has set its FY 2026 guidance at 29.100-31.500 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be given a $0.78 dividend. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.15%.

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.