DAVENPORT & Co LLC Reduces Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

DAVENPORT & Co LLC reduced its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 46.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,127 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,416 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Holos Integrated Wealth LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 82.9% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 75 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Aventura Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $452.00 to $481.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $520.00 to $558.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $537.73.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $472.47 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $510.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $475.97. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12 month low of $314.43 and a 12 month high of $556.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.63 billion, a PE ratio of 16.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.34.

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

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.09, for a total transaction of $747,135.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,944,194.27. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael R. Mcalevey sold 1,694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.37, for a total value of $903,528.78. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,853 shares in the company, valued at $4,721,924.61. This represents a 16.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 15,214 shares of company stock valued at $7,797,595. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

About HCA Healthcare

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.