HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) Issues FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Friday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 21.600-22.800 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 22.620. The company issued revenue guidance of $69.8 billion-$71.8 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $70.9 billion.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 8.9 %

NYSE:HCA opened at $363.55 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $395.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $352.71. HCA Healthcare has a fifty-two week low of $220.55 and a fifty-two week high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.11, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.67.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 13.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on HCA shares. Truist Financial boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of HCA Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $345.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $427.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $392.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $377.17.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Kathleen M. Whalen sold 2,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $363.51, for a total transaction of $1,085,804.37. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,436,623.54. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total transaction of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,438,494.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About HCA Healthcare

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.