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

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,940,000 shares, a drop of 16.1% from the February 28th total of 5,890,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,630,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. Approximately 2.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total value of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of HCA. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its position in HCA Healthcare by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 11,655,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,498,417,000 after acquiring an additional 116,826 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,503,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,351,830,000 after acquiring an additional 23,177 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,871,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,159,882,000 after buying an additional 50,321 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,928,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $878,975,000 after acquiring an additional 19,121 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter worth about $840,286,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of HCA Healthcare stock traded up $0.31 on Tuesday, hitting $345.86. The stock had a trading volume of 1,226,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,346,332. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $325.24 and a 200 day moving average of $340.60. HCA Healthcare has a twelve month low of $289.98 and a twelve month high of $417.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.74, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.08.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The company reported $6.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.03 by $0.19. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.16% and a return on equity of 586.47%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that HCA Healthcare will post 24.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. This is a boost from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on HCA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp cut their target price on HCA Healthcare from $420.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.67.

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.