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

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,400,000 shares, a decrease 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 short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on HCA shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of HCA Healthcare from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $400.00 to $320.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.27.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,445,700. This trade represents a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $2,415,579. This trade represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Red Door Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,501,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC bought a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the fourth quarter valued at $18,044,000. True North Advisors LLC bought a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 4th quarter valued at about $373,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A now owns 8,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,418,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $844,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. 62.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of HCA traded up $1.16 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $310.60. 1,206,562 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,158,913. 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 12 month low of $278.50 and a 12 month high of $417.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $316.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $353.19. The company has a market capitalization of $78.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.64.

HCA Healthcare Dividend Announcement

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