Raymond James Financial Inc. Lowers Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. has decreased its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. by 8.7%, selling 21,582 shares and now holds approximately 0.09% of the company, valued at $77.9 million.
• HCA Healthcare reported $6.84 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing expectations and generating a revenue of $18.61 billion, reflecting a 6.4% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.72 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.7% and a dividend payout ratio of 12.11%.

Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) by 8.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 225,364 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,582 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.09% of HCA Healthcare worth $77,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,017,971 shares of the company's stock valued at $605,694,000 after buying an additional 223,248 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,865,771 shares of the company's stock worth $560,011,000 after purchasing an additional 81,105 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,781,459 shares of the company's stock worth $615,583,000 after purchasing an additional 587,036 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 40,527.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,675,460 shares of the company's stock worth $502,889,000 after purchasing an additional 188,093 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA traded up $0.61 during trading on Friday, reaching $404.87. The stock had a trading volume of 1,081,188 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,431,386. The stock has a market cap of $94.74 billion, a PE ratio of 17.02, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.98. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $373.91 and a 200-day moving average of $354.02.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last announced 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 negative return on equity of 7,363.11% and a net margin of 8.21%.The firm had revenue of $18.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.50 earnings per share. The company'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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued 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 is Tuesday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is currently 12.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HCA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $404.00 to $401.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Barclays dropped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $416.00 to $390.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Truist Financial increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Stephens upgraded HCA Healthcare to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $398.58.

About HCA Healthcare

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.