Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Sells 222,739 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Key Points

• Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH sold 222,739 shares of HCA Healthcare, reducing its position by 44.5%, now owning 277,360 shares valued at approximately $106.3 million.
• In the first quarter, several hedge funds made significant changes to their positions in HCA, with Nuveen LLC purchasing a stake valued at around $569 million and Pacer Advisors Inc. increasing its position by over 6,000%.
• HCA Healthcare reported quarterly earnings exceeding expectations with an EPS of $6.84, and has set its FY 2025 guidance between 25.500 and 27.000 EPS, indicating strong growth potential.

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH reduced its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 44.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 277,360 shares of the company's stock after selling 222,739 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned 0.12% of HCA Healthcare worth $106,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HCA. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the first quarter valued at approximately $569,217,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 6,237.9% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,350,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $466,815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329,618 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 83.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,399,372 shares of the company's stock valued at $829,104,000 after buying an additional 1,091,416 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $615,583,000 after buying an additional 587,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abdiel Capital Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the first quarter valued at approximately $164,835,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on HCA shares. Barclays increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Wall Street Zen raised HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $444.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $423.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered HCA Healthcare from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. One equities 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $407.75.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

NYSE:HCA opened at $419.77 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $289.98 and a 52 week high of $422.46. 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 $98.22 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.41. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $389.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $369.17.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $18.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.50 EPS. HCA Healthcare's 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. As a group, equities analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,836 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $418.84, for a total transaction of $1,606,670.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,503 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,194,716.52. The trade was a 10.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

HCA Healthcare Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HCA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.