HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Stock Price Down 5.1% – Here’s What Happened

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) shares fell 5.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The company traded as low as $445.01 and last traded at $441.3480. Approximately 760,273 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 1,330,525 shares. The stock had previously closed at $465.26.

Key Stories Impacting HCA Healthcare

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

• Positive Sentiment: HCA reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $7.22 per share, exceeding the $6.65–$6.74 analyst estimates and rising from $6.96 a year earlier. Revenue also topped forecasts at $19.85 billion, up 3.6% year over year, supported by demand for medical services. HCA Healthcare Q3 Earnings and Revenues Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: The earnings beat indicates operating performance remained resilient despite ongoing cost and labor pressures, providing support for HCA’s profitability outlook. HCA Healthcare Beats Quarterly Profit Estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Management maintained its existing full-year guidance rather than raising it. This preserves expectations for the year but may have disappointed investors looking for a stronger outlook after the quarterly beat. HCA Healthcare Posts Solid Q3 Results and Maintains Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Net income declined to $1.58 billion from $1.64 billion in the prior-year quarter, even as revenue increased. The profit decline, combined with the unchanged guidance, likely explains why the stock is trading lower despite beating consensus estimates. HCA Healthcare Profit Slips but Revenue Rises

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on HCA. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $535.00 to $495.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $369.00 to $381.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $490.00 to $425.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $495.00 price target for the company. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $467.50.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $95.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $431.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $445.15.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $7.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.65 by $0.57. The firm had revenue of $19.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.33 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.77% and a negative return on equity of 244.79%. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.96 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 29.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 8,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,785,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 0.8% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 11,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,990,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 7.4% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,717,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 19.7% in the third quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 10,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,669,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 93,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,872,000 after buying an additional 1,006 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Company Profile

HCA Healthcare, Inc is a healthcare services company that operates hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, emergency care facilities, physician practices and other healthcare sites. Its facilities provide a broad range of services, including acute and emergency care, surgery, cardiology, oncology, women’s and children’s services, behavioral health and outpatient care.

The company serves patients primarily across the United States through a network of healthcare facilities in numerous states.