HCA Healthcare, Inc. to Post Q4 2024 Earnings of $5.70 Per Share, Leerink Partnrs Forecasts (NYSE:HCA)

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) – Research analysts at Leerink Partnrs lowered their Q4 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of HCA Healthcare in a note issued to investors on Sunday, April 28th. Leerink Partnrs analyst W. Mayo now forecasts that the company will post earnings per share of $5.70 for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $5.79. The consensus estimate for HCA Healthcare’s current full-year earnings is $20.82 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for HCA Healthcare’s Q4 2025 earnings at $6.80 EPS.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on HCA. Raymond James boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $371.00 to $360.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $356.00 to $367.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $316.59.

HCA Healthcare Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:HCA opened at $309.44 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $323.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $296.64. HCA Healthcare has a one year low of $215.96 and a one year high of $335.83. The company has a market capitalization of $81.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.16.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 674.49%. The business’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.93 earnings per share.

HCA Healthcare declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.16%.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $520,474. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 4,262 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.21, for a total transaction of $1,305,067.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,138,652.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares in the company, valued at $520,474. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,779 shares of company stock valued at $2,421,814 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at about $694,985,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,503,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,219,121,000 after buying an additional 1,183,890 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 112.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,772,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,815,000 after acquiring an additional 936,823 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,404,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,086,836,000 after purchasing an additional 456,738 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 230.5% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 553,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,747,000 after purchasing an additional 385,854 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

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.