SouthState Corp Reduces Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

SouthState Corp lessened its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 12.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,995 shares of the company’s stock after selling 823 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at $1,021,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 5.2% during the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 211,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,185,000 after buying an additional 2,107 shares during the period. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 9.9% in the first quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $460.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $449.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Raymond James Financial set a $525.00 price target on HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $473.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael R. Mcalevey sold 3,892 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.79, for a total transaction of $1,843,990.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,652,105.73. This trade represents a 52.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,194,716.52. This represents a 10.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of HCA opened at $471.00 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $289.98 and a 52-week high of $478.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.48 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $426.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $390.24.

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

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

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

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.