HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA is Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC's 5th Largest Position

Key Points

• Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC cut its HCA stake by 20% in Q4, selling 16,874 shares and now holds 67,371 shares worth $31.45M, about 2.5% of the fund’s portfolio and its 5th-largest position.
• Wall Street consensus is a “Moderate Buy” on HCA with an average price target of $537.73, and several firms (including UBS and JPMorgan) recently raised their price targets.
• HCA beat Q4 EPS estimates with $8.01 per share, reported 6.7% year-over-year revenue growth, issued FY2026 EPS guidance of 29.10–31.50, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.78 ($3.12 annual).

Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC cut its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 20.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,371 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,874 shares during the quarter. HCA Healthcare accounts for about 2.5% of Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $31,453,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 13.1% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 43,920 shares of the company's stock worth $18,719,000 after buying an additional 5,092 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 2.9% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 626,585 shares of the company's stock worth $267,051,000 after buying an additional 17,531 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 37.7% in the third quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 4,548 shares of the company's stock worth $1,938,000 after buying an additional 1,246 shares during the last quarter. Sector Gamma AS increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 36.0% in the third quarter. Sector Gamma AS now owns 10,883 shares of the company's stock worth $4,638,000 after buying an additional 2,883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 2,855.2% in the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 5,999 shares of the company's stock worth $2,557,000 after buying an additional 5,796 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HCA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered HCA Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. KeyCorp set a $503.00 price target on HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on HCA Healthcare from $598.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $541.00 price target on HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, February 9th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $537.73.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE:HCA opened at $497.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.36. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $314.43 and a 52-week high of $556.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $511.98 and a 200 day moving average of $482.71.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The company reported $8.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.37 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $19.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. HCA Healthcare had a negative return on equity of 409.11% and a net margin of 8.97%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.22 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare has set its FY 2026 guidance at 29.100-31.500 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 17th. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.99%.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Christopher F. Wyatt sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.00, for a total transaction of $2,020,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 44,379 shares in the company, valued at $22,411,395. This trade represents a 8.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael R. Mcalevey sold 1,694 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.37, for a total value of $903,528.78. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,853 shares in the company, valued at $4,721,924.61. The trade was a 16.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,214 shares of company stock worth $7,797,595. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Company Profile

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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