Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Sells 24,238 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Key Points

• Aptus Capital Advisors LLC sold 24,238 shares of HCA Healthcare, decreasing its holdings by 89% in the first quarter.
• Institutional investors collectively hold 62.73% of HCA Healthcare's stock, with notable increases from firms like Northern Trust Corp and Goldman Sachs Group.
• HCA Healthcare reported earnings of $6.84 per share, exceeding expectations, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share.

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC cut its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 89.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,990 shares of the company's stock after selling 24,238 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,033,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HCA. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,017,971 shares of the company's stock worth $605,694,000 after buying an additional 223,248 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,865,771 shares of the company's stock worth $560,011,000 after buying an additional 81,105 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 49.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,781,459 shares of the company's stock worth $615,583,000 after buying an additional 587,036 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 40,527.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,703,907 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,887,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,699,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,675,460 shares of the company's stock valued at $502,889,000 after purchasing an additional 188,093 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $385.00 to $375.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $404.00 to $401.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $398.58.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 0.2%

HCA traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $404.87. 1,081,188 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,326,629. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The stock's 50-day moving average is $373.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $354.02. The stock has a market cap of $94.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.02, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07.

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

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

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