HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Short Interest Down 9.1% in October

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,600,000 shares, a decrease of 9.1% from the October 15th total of 2,860,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,220,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $427.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of HCA Healthcare to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.00.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HCA traded down $7.07 during trading on Monday, reaching $335.89. The company had a trading volume of 1,496,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,187,725. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock 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’s 50 day moving average price is $384.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $358.11. HCA Healthcare has a 52 week low of $245.03 and a 52 week high of $417.14.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.85%.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,363,950.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,445,700. This represents a 6.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.42, for a total transaction of $3,221,340.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,438,494.76. This represents a 21.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,155 shares of company stock worth $5,608,990. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of HCA Healthcare

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $3,297,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 421 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 1.8% in the third quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position 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 worth $1,652,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 2.4% in 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 during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.