HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $429.75 and last traded at $431.77, with a volume of 50647 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $426.69.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HCA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $375.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $407.75.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 0.7%

The company has a market cap of $100.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.05, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $397.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $372.65.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported $6.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.20 by $0.64. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.21% and a negative return on equity of 7,363.11%. The business had revenue of $18.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.50 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. HCA Healthcare has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.500-27.000 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,836 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $418.84, for a total value of $1,606,670.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 31,503 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,194,716.52. This represents a 10.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 52.7% during the 3rd quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,120,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares during the period. First Citizens Financial Corp acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 3rd quarter worth $253,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 28,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,298,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 40,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,536,000 after buying an additional 1,856 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.