Rafferty Asset Management LLC Sells 4,133 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC has decreased its holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. by 20%, selling 4,133 shares, leaving the fund with 16,556 shares valued at approximately $5.72 million.
• Several large investors have recently modified their stakes in HCA, with notable increases including Aptus Capital Advisors, which grew its investment by 1,093.7%.
• HCA Healthcare reported $6.84 earnings per share for the most recent quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, along with a quarterly revenue of $18.61 billion.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 20.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,556 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,133 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $5,721,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 40,527.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,703,907 shares of the company's stock worth $5,887,850,000 after purchasing an additional 1,699,713 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the first quarter worth about $569,217,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6,237.9% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,350,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $466,815,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329,618 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 83.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,399,372 shares of the company's stock worth $829,104,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091,416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 49.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,781,459 shares of the company's stock valued at $615,583,000 after purchasing an additional 587,036 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research lowered HCA Healthcare from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $385.00 to $375.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $401.83.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of HCA stock traded down $3.17 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $404.11. The company had a trading volume of 996,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,110,551. The company has a 50 day moving average of $376.92 and a 200 day moving average of $357.19. The firm has a market cap of $94.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.86. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported $6.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.20 by $0.64. The firm had revenue of $18.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.49 billion. HCA Healthcare had a negative return on equity of 7,363.11% and a net margin of 8.21%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.50 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.500-27.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.11%.

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.