Avestar Capital LLC Purchases 248 Shares of HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA)

Avestar Capital LLC increased its position in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) by 27.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,149 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in HCA Healthcare were worth $345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of HCA. MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in HCA Healthcare by 31.7% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,241,000 after purchasing an additional 4,285 shares in the last quarter. Meritage Group LP purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the third quarter valued at approximately $150,548,000. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $18,044,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth approximately $869,000. Finally, NRI Wealth Management LC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,896,000. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on HCA. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.67.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA opened at $316.18 on Friday. HCA Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The company has a 50 day moving average of $313.30 and a 200 day moving average of $352.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07. The firm has a market cap of $80.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.39, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that HCA Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.11%.

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.