Leerink Partnrs Lifts Earnings Estimates for HCA Healthcare

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) – Analysts at Leerink Partnrs raised their Q2 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note issued on Monday, April 28th. Leerink Partnrs analyst W. Mayo now expects that the company will post earnings per share of $6.51 for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $6.37. The consensus estimate for HCA Healthcare’s current full-year earnings is $24.98 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for HCA Healthcare’s Q3 2025 earnings at $5.84 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $7.01 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $25.82 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $7.27 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $7.40 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $6.79 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $8.56 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $30.02 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $34.11 EPS, FY2028 earnings at $38.44 EPS and FY2029 earnings at $43.24 EPS.

HCA has been the subject of a number of other reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Baird R W lowered HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $381.13.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA opened at $340.76 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The business has a fifty day moving average of $330.44 and a 200 day moving average of $331.39. The stock has a market cap of $83.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.51, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. HCA Healthcare has a 52-week low of $289.98 and a 52-week high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.75 by $0.70. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. The company had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.36 EPS. HCA Healthcare’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 888.9% in the 1st quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 89 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Tidemark LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 344.0% in the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total value of $3,075,250.47. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.81%.

About HCA Healthcare

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.