HCA Healthcare price target raised to $540 from $485 at BofA

BofA analyst Joanna Gajuk raised the firm’s price target on HCA Healthcare (HCA) to $540 from $485 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The 2026 guidance of 0.6%-6.5% growth roughly bracketed consensus despite not including pending State Directed Payments, and the guide includes $600M-$900M of exchange pressure and $250M-$450M pressure from SDPs year-over-year, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm noted that offsetting such pressure is HCA’s expectation of $400M of cost savings from its resiliency program and a year of strong core growth. The firm added it was surprised that HCA expects to start the year with such strong guidance without the Florida SDP and raised its price target accordingly but reiterated its Neutral stance, given building legislative headwinds.