HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA Shares Acquired by Sunbelt Securities Inc.

Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 171.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,242 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,945 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $2,954,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HCA. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 2,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 749 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Anchyra Partners LLC boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Anchyra Partners LLC now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 3,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,833,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key HCA Healthcare News

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

• Positive Sentiment: HCA reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of $7.59 per share, narrowly exceeding the $7.56 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 8.7% year over year to $20.23 billion and surpassed expectations. The earnings beat and strong revenue growth likely supported investor confidence in the hospital operator. Almost all of HCA’s Affordable Care Act patients are going uninsured. Here’s how that affected Q2
• Positive Sentiment: Despite lowering its price target from $525 to $475, Mizuho maintained an “outperform” rating, indicating it still sees meaningful upside for HCA after the post-earnings reassessment. Mizuho HCA price-target update
• Positive Sentiment: HCA declared a quarterly dividend of $0.78 per share, payable September 30 to shareholders of record September 16. The dividend provides ongoing shareholder return, although its indicated yield is relatively modest. HCA dividend announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: HCA appointed new hospital leadership, naming Jordan Fulkerson chief financial officer of HCA Florida Memorial Hospital and promoting a new chief executive for two Tampa-area hospitals. The changes are unlikely to materially affect near-term valuation. Jordan Fulkerson named CFO
• Negative Sentiment: Several firms reduced HCA price targets following the quarterly report. Oppenheimer, Truist, KeyCorp, Barclays and Baird all lowered their targets, suggesting analysts remain concerned about the outlook even though most retained positive or neutral ratings. HCA analysts slash forecasts after Q2 results
• Negative Sentiment: Nearly all of HCA’s Affordable Care Act patients reportedly became uninsured, raising concerns about payer mix, uncompensated care and reimbursement pressure. ACA patient coverage impact
• Negative Sentiment: Dogwood notified North Carolina officials that HCA may be in “potential noncompliance” with its Mission Hospital sale contract, adding regulatory and operational risk. Mission Hospital sale contract concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz LLP announced an investigation into potential claims on behalf of HCA investors. The announcement may add legal overhang, although it does not establish wrongdoing. Pomerantz investor alert

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HCA shares. Weiss Ratings lowered HCA Healthcare from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $535.00 to $495.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $525.00 to $475.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $465.05.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 7.3%

HCA stock opened at $417.94 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $92.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.99, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $386.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $452.53. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $339.82 and a twelve month high of $556.52.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The company reported $7.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.56 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $20.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.76 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.77% and a negative return on equity of 244.79%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.84 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 29.21 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.45%.

HCA Healthcare Profile

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.