Apollon Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Key Points

• Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 58.0% during Q2, owning 5,716 shares valued at approximately $2.19 million after purchasing an additional 2,098 shares.
• Several institutional investors, including Nuveen LLC and Pacer Advisors Inc., have significantly increased their holdings in HCA Healthcare, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• HCA Healthcare recently announced a $0.72 quarterly dividend, translating to an annualized yield of 0.7%, and its consensus rating among analysts remains a "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $422.31.

Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 58.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,716 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,098 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HCA. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 1st quarter worth $569,217,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 6,237.9% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,350,933 shares of the company's stock worth $466,815,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329,618 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 83.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,399,372 shares of the company's stock worth $829,104,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091,416 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,781,459 shares of the company's stock worth $615,583,000 after acquiring an additional 587,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abdiel Capital Advisors LP acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 1st quarter worth $164,835,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HCA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $375.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $375.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $422.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,836 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $418.84, for a total transaction of $1,606,670.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,503 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,194,716.52. The trade was a 10.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $414.73 on Monday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $289.98 and a 52-week high of $439.01. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $405.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $376.08. The firm has a market cap of $97.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $18.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.49 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.21% and a negative return on equity of 7,363.11%. The business's revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.50 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.500-27.000 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

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

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HCA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.