Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Increases Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC has increased its stock position in HCA Healthcare by 4.5%, owning 14,633 shares valued at approximately $5.6 million as of the end of the second quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their target prices for HCA Healthcare stock, with Barclays setting the highest target at $445.00, while the company currently has an average target price of $407.75.
• HCA Healthcare has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.72, reflecting a 0.7% yield, and has a dividend payout ratio of 12.11%.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,633 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 636 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $5,606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of HCA. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 888.9% in the 1st quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 89 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HCA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $423.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Bank of America boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $375.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $445.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on HCA Healthcare from $404.00 to $401.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $407.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,836 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.84, for a total transaction of $1,606,670.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,503 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,194,716.52. This represents a 10.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA stock opened at $433.83 on Tuesday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $435.03. The company has a market capitalization of $101.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $399.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $373.65.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported $6.84 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $18.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.50 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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