HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,600,000 shares, a decrease of 9.1% from the October 15th total of 2,860,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,220,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total transaction of $1,023,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at $2,415,579. This represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,155 shares of company stock worth $5,608,990. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HCA. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 4,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,863,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 14.0% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $966,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Chiron Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,548,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in HCA Healthcare by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,374,000 after buying an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare during the third quarter worth $762,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA traded down $7.07 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $335.89. 1,496,181 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,187,725. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $384.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $358.11. HCA Healthcare has a twelve month low of $245.03 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The firm has a market cap of $85.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on HCA shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $438.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Truist Financial upped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Wolfe Research raised HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $392.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.00.

HCA Healthcare Company 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.