HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA Shares Sold by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board significantly reduced its stake in HCA Healthcare by 58.8% during the first quarter, owning about 0.05% of the company after selling over 177,000 shares.
• HCA Healthcare reported $6.84 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates, with revenues up 6.4% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share, with a scheduled payment date of September 30th.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lessened its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 58.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 124,464 shares of the company's stock after selling 177,397 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.05% of HCA Healthcare worth $43,009,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 53.9% in the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,630 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,600,000 after buying an additional 1,622 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in HCA Healthcare by 26.9% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the company's stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,314 shares of the company's stock worth $1,491,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 17.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,931 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,704,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 145.3% in the 1st quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 3,550 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,227,000 after buying an additional 2,103 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on 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. Bank of America cut HCA Healthcare from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $394.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Stephens upgraded HCA Healthcare to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $401.83.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA traded up $5.17 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $416.76. 272,435 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,533,563. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.52 billion, a PE ratio of 17.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.41. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $289.98 and a fifty-two week high of $417.20. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $379.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $359.14.

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. HCA Healthcare had a negative return on equity of 7,363.11% and a net margin of 8.21%.The firm had revenue of $18.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.50 EPS. The firm's quarterly 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, research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

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