HCA Healthcare, Inc. Expected to Post Q1 2024 Earnings of $4.79 Per Share (NYSE:HCA)

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCAFree Report) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research dropped their Q1 2024 EPS estimates for HCA Healthcare in a research note issued on Tuesday, March 5th. Zacks Research analyst Z. Masood now forecasts that the company will post earnings of $4.79 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $4.80. The consensus estimate for HCA Healthcare’s current full-year earnings is $20.49 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for HCA Healthcare’s Q2 2024 earnings at $4.89 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $4.45 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $5.29 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $5.14 EPS and Q3 2025 earnings at $5.21 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on HCA. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $313.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $280.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Friday, November 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $308.26.

View Our Latest Report on HCA Healthcare

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of HCA opened at $324.78 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $268.53. HCA Healthcare has a 12 month low of $215.96 and a 12 month high of $328.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCAGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.85. The company had revenue of $17.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.51 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. HCA Healthcare’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.64 earnings per share.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HCA. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 4th quarter worth $694,985,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 5,225.7% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,351,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,178,000 after buying an additional 2,307,406 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 102.0% during the second quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,650,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,108,001,000 after buying an additional 1,843,887 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 112.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,772,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,815,000 after purchasing an additional 936,823 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,229,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $534,917,000 after purchasing an additional 758,127 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total transaction of $203,450.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,491.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total transaction of $203,450.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,491.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Sammie S. Mosier sold 1,645 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.00, for a total transaction of $513,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,385,552. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,620 shares of company stock valued at $4,188,812. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.64%.

HCA Healthcare Company Profile

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HCA Healthcare, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides health care services 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.

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Earnings History and Estimates for HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA)

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