Isthmus Partners LLC Sells 3,454 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Key Points

• Isthmus Partners LLC reduced its HCA Healthcare stake by 9.6% in the first quarter, selling 3,454 shares and leaving it with 32,615 shares valued at about $15.4 million.
• Several analysts have cut price targets on HCA recently, including Barclays and Cantor Fitzgerald, even as the stock keeps a Moderate Buy consensus rating with a $497.14 average target.
• HCA reported Q1 EPS of $7.15, slightly missing estimates, while revenue came in a bit above expectations and rose 4.3% year over year; the company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.78 per share.

Isthmus Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 9.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,615 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,454 shares during the quarter. HCA Healthcare makes up approximately 1.6% of Isthmus Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Isthmus Partners LLC's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $15,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HCA. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,262,513,000. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $374,037,000. Viking Global Investors LP boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 1,872,133 shares of the company's stock valued at $717,214,000 after purchasing an additional 690,773 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4,545.5% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 663,337 shares of the company's stock worth $309,686,000 after purchasing an additional 649,058 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the third quarter valued at $115,530,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting HCA Healthcare this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Barclays reaffirmed its equal weight rating but lowered its price target sharply to $427 from $496, signaling reduced expectations for HCA Healthcare’s near-term stock performance. Benzinga
• Negative Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald cut its price target on HCA Healthcare to $525 from $588, reflecting a more cautious stance even while keeping an overweight rating. Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: Options-market activity is drawing attention because traders appear to be positioning for a larger move in HCA Healthcare stock, but the headline does not confirm a clear directional catalyst. Zacks
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary around HCA’s post-earnings valuation and hold/buy-sell debate adds uncertainty, but it mainly reinforces that investors are reassessing the stock after recent results. MSN
• Positive Sentiment: Longer-term bullish pieces highlight HCA Healthcare’s capacity-expansion strategy, ongoing revenue and profit growth, and sizable buyback capacity, which support the investment case over time. Zacks
• Positive Sentiment: Seeking Alpha argued that HCA remains attractively priced despite recent underperformance, citing improving fundamentals, rising revenue and profitability, and ongoing shareholder returns. Seeking Alpha

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on HCA shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $442.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $503.00 to $413.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Stephens cut their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $560.00 to $530.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $540.00 to $520.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $497.14.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock opened at $409.98 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a fifty day moving average of $398.58 and a 200-day moving average of $461.22. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $330.00 and a 52-week high of $556.52.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 24th. The company reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $19.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.09 billion. HCA Healthcare had a negative return on equity of 295.93% and a net margin of 8.89%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.45 EPS. HCA Healthcare has set its FY 2026 guidance at 29.100-31.500 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 30.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were issued a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.73%.

About HCA Healthcare

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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