First Manhattan CO. LLC. Raises Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Key Points

• First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 32.3%, acquiring an additional 3,951 shares, bringing its total holdings to 16,166 shares valued at $5,586,000.
• HCA Healthcare reported $6.84 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $6.20, with revenue of $18.61 billion, up 6.4% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share, payable on September 30th, representing an annualized dividend of $2.88 and a yield of 0.7%.

First Manhattan CO. LLC. raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 32.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 16,166 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,951 shares during the quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC.'s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $5,586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,622 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 26.9% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,141 shares of the company's stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.5% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,314 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,491,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 17.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,931 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,704,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares during the period. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 145.3% during the first quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 3,550 shares of the company's stock worth $1,227,000 after acquiring an additional 2,103 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:HCA traded up $9.09 on Friday, hitting $420.68. 1,059,770 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,054,336. The firm's 50-day moving average is $380.14 and its 200 day moving average is $359.85. The company has a market capitalization of $98.44 billion, a PE ratio of 17.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.41. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $420.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.98.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The company reported $6.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $18.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.50 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is presently 12.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on HCA. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $423.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Bank of America downgraded HCA Healthcare from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $394.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $401.83.

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.