HCA Healthcare’s (HCA) Overweight Rating Reiterated at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald restated their overweight rating on shares of HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a $444.00 price target on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Stephens upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $423.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $385.00 to $375.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $401.83.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 0.6%

HCA stock opened at $407.55 on Tuesday. HCA Healthcare has a 52 week low of $289.98 and a 52 week high of $417.14. The company has a market capitalization of $95.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $376.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $356.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported $6.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.20 by $0.64. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.21% and a negative return on equity of 7,363.11%. The company had revenue of $18.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.50 EPS. HCA Healthcare’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. HCA Healthcare has set its FY 2025 guidance at 25.500-27.000 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 12.11%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in HCA Healthcare during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,152,408,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 83.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,399,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $829,104,000 after buying an additional 1,091,416 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,017,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,694,000 after buying an additional 223,248 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 1,872,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,214,000 after buying an additional 690,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,865,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $560,011,000 after buying an additional 81,105 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.