Barclays PLC Increases Stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Key Points

• Barclays PLC boosted its HCA Healthcare stake by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, adding 72,219 shares to bring its total holdings to 1,322,211 shares worth about $617.3 million.
• Wall Street remains cautiously positive on HCA despite several analysts cutting price targets; the stock still carries a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average target price of $506.14.
• HCA missed quarterly EPS estimates but beat revenue expectations, reporting $7.15 per share versus $7.19 expected and $19.11 billion in revenue, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.78 per share.

Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,322,211 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 72,219 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.59% of HCA Healthcare worth $617,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 2,026 shares of the company's stock valued at $946,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 749 shares of the company's stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 300 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 3.9% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 590 shares of the company's stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 3,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,833,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on HCA shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $481.00 to $436.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $561.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $593.00 to $534.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on HCA Healthcare from $558.00 to $540.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $506.14.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $387.25 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $330.00 and a fifty-two week high of $556.52. The company has a market cap of $85.91 billion, a PE ratio of 13.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $429.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $473.48.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The company reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($0.04). HCA Healthcare had a negative return on equity of 295.93% and a net margin of 8.89%.The firm had revenue of $19.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.09 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.45 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. HCA Healthcare has set its FY 2026 guidance at 29.100-31.500 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 30.07 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, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is 10.73%.

About HCA Healthcare

HCA Healthcare is a for‑profit operator of healthcare facilities headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1968, the company owns and operates a network of hospitals and related healthcare facilities and has grown through organic expansion and acquisitions to become a large provider of inpatient and outpatient services.

The company's core activities include the operation of acute care hospitals, freestanding surgical and emergency centers, and outpatient clinics. HCA's services encompass inpatient care, surgical services, emergency medicine, diagnostic imaging and laboratory testing, and various outpatient and ambulatory care offerings.

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