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

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $478.88 and last traded at $475.3450, with a volume of 454147 shares. The stock had previously closed at $471.36.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. 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 report on Monday, August 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of HCA Healthcare from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $473.53.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.1%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $427.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $391.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.41, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.41.

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

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael R. Mcalevey sold 3,892 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.79, for a total value of $1,843,990.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,652,105.73. The trade was a 52.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,836 shares of the firm’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 $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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cumberland Partners Ltd increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 7,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,196,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.1% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 101,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078 shares in the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 3,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,671,000 after buying an additional 695 shares during the period. Finally, Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC acquired a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at $223,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

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.