HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $479.43 and last traded at $474.08, with a volume of 1411770 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $462.31.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HCA has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $460.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Mizuho upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $475.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $425.00 target price on HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Wolfe Research lowered HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $473.53.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $108.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $431.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $394.54.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 24th. The company reported $6.96 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 company had revenue of $19.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.90 earnings per share. 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 predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,836 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 31,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,194,716.52. This represents a 10.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Michael R. Mcalevey sold 3,892 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,652,105.73. This trade represents a 52.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the first quarter worth $27,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.