Franklin Resources Inc. Has $500.11 Million Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,173,404 shares of the company’s stock after selling 254,941 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $500,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HCA. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 311.8% in the second quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 70 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 82.9% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 75 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the second quarter worth about $40,000. Compound Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 179.5% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 109 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $541.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $525.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, KeyCorp set a $503.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $537.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.09, for a total transaction of $747,135.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,944,194.27. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael R. Mcalevey sold 1,694 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.37, for a total value of $903,528.78. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,853 shares in the company, valued at $4,721,924.61. This represents a 16.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 15,214 shares of company stock valued at $7,797,595 in the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:HCA opened at $537.15 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $504.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $468.21. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $310.18 and a twelve month high of $552.90. The stock has a market cap of $120.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.34.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The company reported $8.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.37 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $19.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.97% and a negative return on equity of 409.11%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.22 EPS. HCA Healthcare has set its FY 2026 guidance at 29.100-31.500 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.15%.

HCA Healthcare Profile

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.