J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Sells 1,025 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 28.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,525 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,025 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 1st quarter valued at about $569,217,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 83.4% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 49.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,781,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $615,583,000 after acquiring an additional 587,036 shares during the last quarter. Abdiel Capital Advisors LP bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 1st quarter worth $164,835,000. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the second quarter valued at about $109,337,000. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HCA Healthcare news, EVP Michael R. Mcalevey sold 3,892 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.79, for a total transaction of $1,843,990.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,487 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,105.73. The trade was a 52.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.84, for a total value of $1,606,670.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,194,716.52. This represents a 10.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HCA. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Stephens raised their price target on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $474.53.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.4%

HCA stock opened at $512.94 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $452.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $406.38. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $289.98 and a 52 week high of $520.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.41.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 24th. The company reported $6.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.64 by $1.32. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.53% and a negative return on equity of 792.25%. The firm had revenue of $19.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. HCA Healthcare has set its FY 2025 guidance at 27.000-28.000 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.13%.

HCA Healthcare Profile

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.