HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

Wall Street Zen cut shares of HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on HCA. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $598.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $546.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $481.00 to $436.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $540.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $520.55.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE HCA opened at $433.73 on Friday. HCA Healthcare has a twelve month low of $330.00 and a twelve month high of $556.52. The stock has a market cap of $96.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.92, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $497.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $485.93.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 24th. The company reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($0.04). HCA Healthcare had a negative return on equity of 295.93% and a net margin of 8.89%.The firm had revenue of $19.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. HCA Healthcare has set its FY 2026 guidance at 29.100-31.500 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare will post 30.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 10.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, EVP Michael R. Mcalevey sold 1,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.37, for a total transaction of $903,528.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,721,924.61. The trade was a 16.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 8,020 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $514.58, for a total transaction of $4,126,931.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,171,357.94. This represents a 40.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 15,214 shares of company stock worth $7,797,595 in the last 90 days. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 13.1% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 43,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,719,000 after buying an additional 5,092 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.9% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 626,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,051,000 after buying an additional 17,531 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 37.7% during the third quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 4,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,938,000 after buying an additional 1,246 shares during the last quarter. Sector Gamma AS boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sector Gamma AS now owns 10,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,638,000 after acquiring an additional 2,883 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,084,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $507,393,000 after purchasing an additional 108,849 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% 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.