Aberdeen Group plc Lowers Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc reduced its stake in HCA Healthcare by 4.3%, now holding approximately $71.61 million worth of the company's shares.
• HCA Healthcare reported earnings of $6.84 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates and showing a 6.4% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share, with an annualized payout of $2.88 and a yield of 0.7% expected.

Aberdeen Group plc lessened its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 4.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 207,379 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,222 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.09% of HCA Healthcare worth $71,614,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Horizon Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 3,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 80.7% during the first quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 25,385 shares of the company's stock worth $8,772,000 after acquiring an additional 11,338 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 31.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 164,021 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,677,000 after purchasing an additional 39,250 shares in the last quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 21,230 shares of the company's stock worth $7,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 7.6% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 613,611 shares of the company's stock worth $212,033,000 after buying an additional 43,320 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Stephens upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered HCA Healthcare from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $398.58.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock traded down $0.80 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $409.38. The company had a trading volume of 391,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,566,041. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $372.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $352.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $95.79 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.39.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported $6.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.20 by $0.64. The firm had revenue of $18.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.49 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.21% and a negative return on equity of 7,363.11%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.50 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.500-27.000 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is currently 12.11%.

HCA Healthcare 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.