VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Makes New Investment in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Key Points

• VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al has purchased 285,400 shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc., valued at approximately $109.3 million, making it the firm's 21st largest investment.
• HCA Healthcare reported earnings per share of $6.84 last quarter, exceeding expectations, and set a fiscal year 2025 guidance of 25.500-27.000 EPS.
• Several hedge funds increased their stakes in HCA Healthcare, with major investments from firms like Price T Rowe Associates and Goldman Sachs, indicating significant institutional interest in the stock.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 285,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $109,337,000. HCA Healthcare comprises 0.8% of VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al's holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned about 0.12% of HCA Healthcare at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 83.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,399,372 shares of the company's stock valued at $829,104,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091,416 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 49.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,781,459 shares of the company's stock valued at $615,583,000 after acquiring an additional 587,036 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the first quarter valued at about $569,217,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 6,237.9% during 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 period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 6.8% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 927,781 shares of the company's stock valued at $350,404,000 after acquiring an additional 59,163 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HCA has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $425.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $444.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $375.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $460.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $434.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,836 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $418.84, for a total transaction of $1,606,670.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,503 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,194,716.52. This trade represents a 10.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE HCA opened at $425.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $99.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.89, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $410.05 and a 200-day moving average of $378.42. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $439.01.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $18.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.49 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.21% and a negative return on equity of 7,363.11%. The company's revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.50 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.500-27.000 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.11%.

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.

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