Aviance Capital Partners LLC Invests $2.54 Million in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,543,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HCA. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Baird R W upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $327.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $359.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $326.53.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $321.31. 276,466 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,082,829. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company’s 50 day moving average is $325.96 and its 200 day moving average is $317.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.68. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a one year low of $215.96 and a one year high of $344.20.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.20% and a return on equity of 674.49%. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.93 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 20.92 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.00, for a total value of $494,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,544,316. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.00, for a total value of $494,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,544,316. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 6,311 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.88, for a total transaction of $1,999,829.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,387,253.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,397 shares of company stock worth $3,921,929. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

HCA Healthcare 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.