Ascent Group LLC Purchases 799 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 9.1% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 799 shares, bringing its total holdings to 9,607 shares valued at $3,320,000.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for HCA Healthcare, with Truist Financial setting a new target at $415.00, while the consensus price target is currently $401.83.
• HCA Healthcare declared a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.7%, following a strong quarter where EPS exceeded analyst estimates by $0.64.

Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 9.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,607 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 799 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $3,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 1st quarter worth about $1,501,000. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,240,000. Redwood Investments LLC lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Redwood Investments LLC now owns 4,420 shares of the company's stock worth $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 26,878 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,019,000 after purchasing an additional 3,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stance Capital LLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 2,419.1% during the first quarter. Stance Capital LLC now owns 14,359 shares of the company's stock worth $4,962,000 after buying an additional 13,789 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,836 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.84, for a total value of $1,606,670.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,503 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,194,716.52. This represents a 10.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HCA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $404.00 to $401.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $423.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $403.17.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 0.7%

HCA stock traded up $2.69 during trading on Friday, reaching $405.54. The company had a trading volume of 761,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,129,364. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $382.88 and a 200 day moving average of $362.77. The company has a market cap of $94.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.05, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.41. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $289.98 and a 52 week high of $420.98.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $18.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.50 EPS. HCA Healthcare'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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend 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.