Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Buys 98,112 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. significantly increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 131.7% during the 1st quarter, acquiring an additional 98,112 shares, bringing its total ownership to 172,633 shares valued at approximately $59.65 million.
• Several brokerages have adjusted their price targets for HCA Healthcare, with Robert W. Baird raising its target to $423.00, while Wells Fargo & Company reduced it to $375.00, reflecting varying analyst perspectives on the stock's value.
• HCA Healthcare reported a quarterly earnings per share of $6.84, exceeding analyst expectations, with a revenue of $18.61 billion for the quarter, marking a year-over-year increase of 6.4%.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 131.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 172,633 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 98,112 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.07% of HCA Healthcare worth $59,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HCA. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,021,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 65.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 438,680 shares of the company's stock valued at $131,668,000 after purchasing an additional 173,330 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 29,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $187,000. Finally, BOKF NA lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 29.6% in the 4th quarter. BOKF NA now owns 5,401 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,636,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on HCA shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $423.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $404.00 to $401.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Wolfe Research cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $401.83.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 2.2%

NYSE:HCA traded up $9.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $420.68. The company had a trading volume of 1,059,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,054,336. 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 firm has a market cap of $98.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.41. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $380.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $360.12. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $420.98.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The company reported $6.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.20 by $0.64. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.21% and a negative return on equity of 7,363.11%. The firm had revenue of $18.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.50 earnings per share. The business's 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. On average, equities analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date 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%.

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.