Insider Selling: HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) EVP Sells 1,500 Shares of Stock

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) EVP Michael Cuffe sold 1,500 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.09, for a total transaction of $747,135.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,003 shares in the company, valued at $14,944,194.27. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 4.1%

HCA stock traded up $20.20 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $513.84. 1,462,056 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,137,185. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.36. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12-month low of $295.00 and a 12-month high of $527.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $480.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $440.62.

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

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 10.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HCA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $520.00 to $546.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. Zacks Research downgraded HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $452.00 to $481.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $519.71.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HCA. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,959,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,113,662,000 after purchasing an additional 179,443 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the second quarter worth approximately $1,152,408,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,065,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $880,199,000 after acquiring an additional 36,414 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 58.5% during the 2nd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 1,872,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,214,000 after purchasing an additional 690,773 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.8% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,124,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,267,000 after buying an additional 8,478 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HCA Healthcare Company 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.