Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 692,411 shares of the company’s stock after selling 167,342 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.30% of HCA Healthcare worth $295,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HCA. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 43,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,719,000 after purchasing an additional 5,092 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 4.3% in the second quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 558,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,115,000 after buying an additional 23,100 shares in the last quarter. Cherokee Insurance Co acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,869,000. Sector Gamma AS raised its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 36.0% during the third quarter. Sector Gamma AS now owns 10,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,638,000 after purchasing an additional 2,883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al grew its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 4.2% in the third quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 297,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,709,000 after purchasing an additional 11,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about HCA Healthcare

Here are the key news stories impacting HCA Healthcare this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong quarterly results and market reaction — HCA reported an EPS beat and raised FY 2026 guidance, prompting coverage noting a gap up in the stock after the print. Shares Gap Up on Strong Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts boost targets and maintain bullish ratings — Goldman Sachs raised its price target to $558 (buy) and Leerink Partners increased its target to $573 (outperform), supporting further upside potential. Goldman Sachs Raises PT Leerink Raises PT TickerReport
• Positive Sentiment: Additional bullish analyst commentary — Truist and Deutsche Bank analysts publicly stated expectations for HCA shares to rise, reinforcing the buy-side momentum. Truist Note Deutsche Bank Note
• Positive Sentiment: Brand and quality recognition — Multiple HCA hospitals placed on Healthgrades’ America’s 50/100/250 Best Hospitals lists, supporting reputation and referral flows. Healthgrades Recognition
• Positive Sentiment: Outpatient growth and M&A runway — Company commentary and industry pieces highlight HCA’s push into outpatient facilities and acquisition opportunities, which investors view as margin?accretive growth. Outpatient Growth Acquisition Opportunities
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish research notes/coverage — Zacks highlights HCA as a strong growth stock based on style scores, adding to favorable retail/institutional sentiment. Zacks Growth Stock Piece
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts say the narrative is shifting — Coverage explores how the investment story is evolving post?earnings/target resets; watch valuation vs. growth expectations. Analyst Narrative
• Neutral Sentiment: Local expansion and competitive landscape — Reporting on new ER builds and regional facility activity (e.g., southwest Florida) that may influence local market share dynamics. Local ER Story Freestanding EDs
• Negative Sentiment: Policy/regulatory risk — HCA is publicly noting it is monitoring federal policy shifts that could affect reimbursement or operations; this is a watcher for downside risk. Policy Risk

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on HCA shares. Raymond James Financial set a $525.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, October 27th. Morgan Stanley downgraded HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $425.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, December 15th. UBS Group boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $525.00 to $598.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $520.00 to $546.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $423.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $518.76.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of HCA opened at $488.19 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $111.40 billion, a PE ratio of 17.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s fifty day moving average is $481.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $438.34. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $295.00 and a fifty-two week high of $527.55.

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

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, EVP Michael R. Mcalevey sold 3,892 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.79, for a total transaction of $1,843,990.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,105.73. The trade was a 52.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

About HCA Healthcare

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.