Opal Capital LLC Takes Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Opal Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,218,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HCA. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at $1,021,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 11.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 630 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,073,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 56.3% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 136,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,328,000 after buying an additional 49,214 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on HCA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $476.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday. Mizuho decreased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $525.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial cut their target price on HCA Healthcare from $535.00 to $495.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Raymond James Financial set a $528.00 price target on HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $558.00 to $485.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $465.05.

Key HCA Healthcare News

Here are the key news stories impacting HCA Healthcare this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HCA reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of $7.59 per share, narrowly exceeding the $7.56 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 8.7% year over year to $20.23 billion and surpassed expectations. The earnings beat and strong revenue growth likely supported investor confidence in the hospital operator. Almost all of HCA’s Affordable Care Act patients are going uninsured. Here’s how that affected Q2
• Positive Sentiment: Despite lowering its price target from $525 to $475, Mizuho maintained an “outperform” rating, indicating it still sees meaningful upside for HCA after the post-earnings reassessment. Mizuho HCA price-target update
• Positive Sentiment: HCA declared a quarterly dividend of $0.78 per share, payable September 30 to shareholders of record September 16. The dividend provides ongoing shareholder return, although its indicated yield is relatively modest. HCA dividend announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: HCA appointed new hospital leadership, naming Jordan Fulkerson chief financial officer of HCA Florida Memorial Hospital and promoting a new chief executive for two Tampa-area hospitals. The changes are unlikely to materially affect near-term valuation. Jordan Fulkerson named CFO
• Negative Sentiment: Several firms reduced HCA price targets following the quarterly report. Oppenheimer, Truist, KeyCorp, Barclays and Baird all lowered their targets, suggesting analysts remain concerned about the outlook even though most retained positive or neutral ratings. HCA analysts slash forecasts after Q2 results
• Negative Sentiment: Nearly all of HCA’s Affordable Care Act patients reportedly became uninsured, raising concerns about payer mix, uncompensated care and reimbursement pressure. ACA patient coverage impact
• Negative Sentiment: Dogwood notified North Carolina officials that HCA may be in “potential noncompliance” with its Mission Hospital sale contract, adding regulatory and operational risk. Mission Hospital sale contract concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz LLP announced an investigation into potential claims on behalf of HCA investors. The announcement may add legal overhang, although it does not establish wrongdoing. Pomerantz investor alert

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

NYSE:HCA opened at $417.94 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $386.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $452.53. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $339.82 and a fifty-two week high of $556.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.12.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The company reported $7.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.56 by $0.03. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.77% and a negative return on equity of 244.79%. The firm had revenue of $20.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.76 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.84 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 29.21 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 10.45%.

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.