HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Short Interest Update

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,530,000 shares, an increase of 18.9% from the November 15th total of 2,970,000 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James downgraded HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $392.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.13.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 0.8 %

HCA stock traded up $2.59 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $313.93. The stock had a trading volume of 1,324,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,204,023. The firm has a market cap of $79.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.63. 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 has a twelve month low of $263.22 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $355.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $358.52.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 11.85%.

Insider Activity at HCA Healthcare

In related news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of HCA Healthcare 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at $2,415,579. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value 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. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HCA. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 322.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,141,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,276,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397,883 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,669,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,842,000 after purchasing an additional 174,946 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 2.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,487,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $604,511,000 after buying an additional 41,190 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,339,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,467,000 after acquiring an additional 143,995 shares during the period. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 53.3% in the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $369,472,000 after purchasing an additional 400,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

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.