Sowell Financial Services LLC Raises Holdings in HCA Healthcare, Inc. $HCA

Sowell Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 171.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,975 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,509 shares during the quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $1,856,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 35.3% in the 4th quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 840 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 41.9% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 2,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,241,000 after buying an additional 785 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth approximately $237,000. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 140,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,147 shares during the period. Finally, Earned Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth about $244,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Leerink Partners raised their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $507.00 to $573.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Barclays raised their target price on HCA Healthcare from $494.00 to $551.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $535.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $598.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $529.00 to $561.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $537.73.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:HCA opened at $488.74 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.22, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.36. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a 12-month low of $314.43 and a 12-month high of $556.52. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $511.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $480.20.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The company reported $8.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.37 by $0.64. The business had revenue of $19.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.97% and a negative return on equity of 409.11%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.22 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare has set its FY 2026 guidance at 29.100-31.500 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were paid a $0.78 dividend. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.09, for a total transaction of $747,135.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,944,194.27. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 8,020 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.58, for a total transaction of $4,126,931.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,171,357.94. The trade was a 40.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 15,214 shares of company stock worth $7,797,595 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Company 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.