HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Hits New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on the stock from $485.00 to $525.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. HCA Healthcare traded as high as $469.18 and last traded at $468.6770, with a volume of 1789515 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $447.04.

HCA has been the topic of several other reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $495.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Stephens raised their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley set a $425.00 price objective on HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on HCA Healthcare from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $473.53.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In related news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,836 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.84, for a total transaction of $1,606,670.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,194,716.52. The trade was a 10.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 44.0% during the third quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $761,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares during the period. Inscription Capital LLC grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 46.2% during the third quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 5,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,489,000 after acquiring an additional 1,845 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth about $178,000. Vista Investment Partners II LLC boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC now owns 5,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,379,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 0.4%

The firm has a market cap of $109.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $418.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $385.09.

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

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

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

HCA Healthcare Company Profile

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.