HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA Stock: ProShare Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings

ProShare Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 8.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 23,800 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,338 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $10,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 171.7% during the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 6,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,954,000 after acquiring an additional 3,945 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 27.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 467,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,380,000 after acquiring an additional 100,764 shares during the period. SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 1st quarter worth $75,534,000. Darsana Capital Partners LP increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 46.7% in the second quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,100,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $428,879,000 after purchasing an additional 350,000 shares during the period. Finally, Fund 1 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the second quarter worth $975,000. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE:HCA opened at $462.52 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $438.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $444.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.62 billion, a PE ratio of 15.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.11. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $353.99 and a twelve month high of $556.52.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $7.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.65 by $0.57. The firm had revenue of $19.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.33 billion. HCA Healthcare had a negative return on equity of 198.52% and a net margin of 8.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.96 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 30.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 15th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 10.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HCA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $635.00 to $579.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $510.00 price target (up from $495.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $381.00 to $468.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $425.00 to $380.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $480.13.

Key Headlines Impacting HCA Healthcare

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

• Positive Sentiment: Truist reaffirmed its “Buy” rating and raised its price target to $510 from $495, suggesting confidence in HCA’s prospects. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: HCA plans a $300 million hospital in Cape Coral, Florida, with $31 million in city incentives. The project could support future capacity and growth, though it also entails significant investment. Cape Coral hospital article
• Neutral Sentiment: An HCA subsidiary plans to issue senior notes. The financing may support corporate needs, but the available report does not provide terms or indicate how much debt will be added. Senior notes offering
• Negative Sentiment: A report on HCA’s third-quarter payer mix highlights an estimated $400 million cost burden associated with a shift toward uninsured patients. Higher uncompensated-care costs could weigh on margins. Q3 revenue by payer article
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz LLP said it is investigating potential claims on behalf of HCA investors. An investigation is not a finding of wrongdoing, but the announcement adds legal and reputational uncertainty. Investor investigation announcement
• Negative Sentiment: A reported data breach affected about 55,000 people, creating potential privacy, remediation and reputational risks. Data breach report

About HCA Healthcare

HCA Healthcare, Inc is a healthcare services company that operates hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, emergency care facilities, physician practices and other healthcare sites. Its facilities provide a broad range of services, including acute and emergency care, surgery, cardiology, oncology, women’s and children’s services, behavioral health and outpatient care.

The company serves patients primarily across the United States through a network of healthcare facilities in numerous states.