Insider Selling Activity: HCA Healthcare insiders sold a significant amount of shares over the past year, with the largest sale being by Executive VP & COO Jon Foster for US$5.8 million, which raises concerns among shareholders.
Lack of Insider Buying: No insiders have purchased shares in the last year, which may indicate a lack of confidence in the company's future performance.
Insider Ownership: Insiders own approximately US$1.3 billion worth of shares (1.4% of the company), suggesting that they have a vested interest in the company's success, although higher insider buying would be preferred.
Caution Advised: While insider transactions are not the sole factor in long-term investing decisions, the lack of recent insider buying and certain warning signs about HCA Healthcare should prompt investors to proceed with caution.
HCA
$469.79+Infinity%1D
Analyst Views on HCA
Wall Street analysts forecast HCA stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for HCA is 481.33 USD with a low forecast of 417.00 USD and a high forecast of 525.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
19 Analyst Rating
Wall Street analysts forecast HCA stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for HCA is 481.33 USD with a low forecast of 417.00 USD and a high forecast of 525.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
13 Buy
6 Hold
0 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 476.980
Low
417.00
Averages
481.33
High
525.00
Current: 476.980
Low
417.00
Averages
481.33
High
525.00
Morgan Stanley
Craig Hettenbach
Equal Weight -> Underweight
downgrade
$425
2025-12-15
New
Reason
Morgan Stanley
Craig Hettenbach
Price Target
$425
2025-12-15
New
downgrade
Equal Weight -> Underweight
Reason
Morgan Stanley analyst Craig Hettenbach downgraded HCA Healthcare to Underweight from Equal Weight with an unchanged price target of $425. Following the stock's significant outperformance that has HCA trading at a new peak valuation multiple, "there's little room for any setbacks," the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm thinks upside is already priced in following strong outperformance in the stock.
Wells Fargo
Equal Weight
maintain
$412 -> $431
2025-11-13
Reason
Wells Fargo
Price Target
$412 -> $431
2025-11-13
maintain
Equal Weight
Reason
Wells Fargo raised the firm's price target on HCA Healthcare to $431 from $412 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares following quarterly results. Overall, modestly higher EBITDA estimates and rolling fully to 2027 estimates offsets a material increase in the odds of enhanced exchange subsidies expiring in the firm's price target framework, Wells says.
Jefferies
Buy
maintain
$485 -> $525
2025-10-28
Reason
Jefferies
Price Target
$485 -> $525
2025-10-28
maintain
Buy
Reason
Jefferies raised the firm's price target on HCA Healthcare to $525 from $485 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares after "a good Q3, with a solid EBITDA beat." The magnitude of the Q3 beat highlighted how significant the upside could be from other upcoming state-directed payments approvals and made investors overlook the impasse in Congress over health insurance exchange subsidies, the analyst contends.
Oppenheimer
Oppenheimer
Outperform
maintain
$400 -> $500
2025-10-27
Reason
Oppenheimer
Oppenheimer
Price Target
$400 -> $500
2025-10-27
maintain
Outperform
Reason
Oppenheimer raised the firm's price target on HCA Healthcare to $500 from $400 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The firm notes the company reported strong Q3 results, driven by revenue-per-adjusted admission, largely due to outsized tailwinds from state supplemental payments, along with other factors, which implies high single-digit growth for Q4 2025 after adjusting for the moving parts from supp. payments and the hurricanes from last year.
About HCA
HCA Healthcare, Inc. is a health care services company. It owns, manages or operates hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), freestanding emergency care facilities, urgent care facilities, walk-in clinics, diagnostic and imaging centers, radiation and oncology therapy centers, comprehensive rehabilitation and physical therapy centers, hospices, and various other facilities. Its general, acute care hospitals provide a full range of services to accommodate such medical specialties as internal medicine, general surgery, cardiology, oncology, neurosurgery, orthopedics and obstetrics, as well as diagnostic and emergency services. Its behavioral hospitals provide a full range of mental health care services through inpatient, partial hospitalization and outpatient settings. It operates approximately 190 hospitals and 2,400 ambulatory sites of care, including surgery centers, freestanding emergency rooms, urgent care centers and physician clinics, in 20 states and the United Kingdom.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
