Legal & General Group Plc Sells 48,974 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,075,537 shares of the company’s stock after selling 48,974 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.47% of HCA Healthcare worth $502,125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,959,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,113,662,000 after buying an additional 179,443 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,065,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $880,199,000 after buying an additional 36,414 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP increased its holdings in 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 during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,100,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $469,216,000 after buying an additional 11,829 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,084,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $507,393,000 after buying an additional 108,849 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HCA. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $550.00 to $510.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Argus lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $560.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $535.00 to $490.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $515.77.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 0.1%

HCA Healthcare stock opened at $394.40 on Tuesday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 1 year low of $330.00 and a 1 year high of $556.52. The company has a market cap of $87.49 billion, a PE ratio of 13.56, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50-day moving average is $462.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $483.23.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The company reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($0.04). HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.89% and a negative return on equity of 295.93%. The business had revenue of $19.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.45 earnings per share. The business’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. Research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 30.07 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.73%.

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.