Townsend & Associates Inc Purchases New Position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Townsend & Associates Inc purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 40,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,556,000. HCA Healthcare accounts for approximately 1.6% of Townsend & Associates Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HCA. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth about $1,021,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 17.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,704,000 after buying an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 344.0% in the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 111 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 1st quarter worth about $223,000. Finally, World Equity Group Inc. grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 9.7% in the first quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 1,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 3,836 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 31,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,194,716.52. This represents a 10.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $425.50 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $99.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.89, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.40. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 52-week low of $289.98 and a 52-week high of $439.01. The business’s 50 day moving average is $410.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $378.63.

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

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HCA shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded HCA Healthcare from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $444.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $410.00 to $400.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Wolfe Research cut HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $437.19.

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.