Short Interest in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Declines By 7.9%

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,400,000 shares, a drop of 7.9% from the December 15th total of 4,780,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,470,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were 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 owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HCA. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 8,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,297,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,652,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HCA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com cut HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on HCA Healthcare from $396.00 to $392.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued 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.com, HCA Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.27.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

HCA Healthcare stock traded up $1.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $310.60. 1,206,562 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,158,913. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $317.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $352.81. HCA Healthcare has a 12 month low of $278.50 and a 12 month high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $78.68 billion, a PE ratio of 13.95, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. HCA Healthcare’s payout ratio is 11.85%.

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.