Research Analysts’ Weekly Ratings Updates for HCA Healthcare (HCA)

Several analysts have recently updated their ratings and price targets for HCA Healthcare (NYSE: HCA):

• 1/27/2025 – HCA Healthcare had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald. They now have a $405.00 price target on the stock.
• 1/27/2025 – HCA Healthcare had its price target lowered by analysts at Barclays PLC from $392.00 to $366.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 1/27/2025 – HCA Healthcare had its price target lowered by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $405.00 to $384.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 1/27/2025 – HCA Healthcare had its price target lowered by analysts at Bank of America Co. from $380.00 to $370.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 1/7/2025 – HCA Healthcare had its price target lowered by analysts at KeyCorp from $420.00 to $370.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 1/6/2025 – HCA Healthcare had its price target lowered by analysts at Truist Financial Co. from $430.00 to $390.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 12/17/2024 – HCA Healthcare had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.. They now have a $380.00 price target on the stock.
• 12/17/2024 – HCA Healthcare had its price target lowered by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $406.00 to $355.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA Healthcare stock traded up $4.74 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $334.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,532,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,717,991. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $313.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $353.50. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $289.98 and a 52 week high of $417.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The stock has a market cap of $84.77 billion, a PE ratio of 15.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.89 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In related news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,579. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. FMR LLC increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 322.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,276,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397,883 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 120.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 873,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,264,000 after buying an additional 476,756 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Group LP bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at approximately $150,548,000. Canoe Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 226,952.9% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 231,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,513,000 after purchasing an additional 231,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 210.6% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 306,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,691,000 after purchasing an additional 208,015 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

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.