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

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,600,000 shares, a drop 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 days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock traded down $7.07 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $335.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,496,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,187,725. The company has a market cap of $85.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $384.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $358.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.12. HCA Healthcare has a 12-month low of $245.03 and a 12-month high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total value of $1,023,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,579. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total value of $3,221,340.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,438,494.76. This represents a 21.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,155 shares of company stock worth $5,608,990 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HCA. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the third 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 raised its stake 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 worth $171,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.8% during the third 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 lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.7% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,652,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 2.4% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $529,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on HCA. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $475.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.