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

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. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,470,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on HCA. StockNews.com lowered HCA Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Raymond James lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,415,579. The trade was a 29.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.3% in the third quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC now owns 8,112 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,297,000 after buying 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 third 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 raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 2.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HCA traded up $1.16 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $310.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,206,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,158,913. The stock has a market cap of $78.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71. HCA Healthcare has a 52-week low of $278.50 and a 52-week high of $417.14. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $316.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $353.19.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.85%.

About HCA Healthcare

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.