Ascent Group LLC Has $3.86 Million Stock Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,086 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 479 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $3,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,021,000. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 109.9% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 3,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 1,724 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the first quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the first quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 20.2% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,111,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 0.7%

HCA stock opened at $429.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $100.50 billion, a PE ratio of 18.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $397.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $372.65. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $289.98 and a 52 week high of $432.36.

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

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is presently 12.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HCA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $404.00 to $401.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $423.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $445.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $407.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other HCA Healthcare news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,836 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $418.84, for a total transaction of $1,606,670.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 31,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,194,716.52. The trade was a 10.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Company 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.