HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Posts Earnings Results

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35, Briefing.com reports. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.93 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare's revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. HCA Healthcare updated its FY 2024 guidance to 19.700-21.200 EPS and its FY24 guidance to $19.70-21.20 EPS.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:HCA traded down $7.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $306.60. 2,257,039 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,107,586. HCA Healthcare has a fifty-two week low of $215.96 and a fifty-two week high of $335.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $323.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $295.00. The firm has a market cap of $81.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.65.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total value of $203,450.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,491.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total transaction of $203,450.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,491.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.79, for a total transaction of $981,728.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,929 shares in the company, valued at $7,647,967.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HCA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of HCA Healthcare from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $277.00 to $301.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $359.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $310.88.

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.