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

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in 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. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,220,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HCA. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $395.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $475.00 to $420.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $392.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $353.00, for a total value of $1,023,700.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,415,579. This represents 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, SVP Phillip G. Billington sold 3,897 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $18,445,700. The trade was a 6.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,155 shares of company stock worth $5,608,990 over the last 90 days. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Unigestion Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 72.2% during the 3rd quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 1,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $648,000 after buying an additional 669 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in HCA Healthcare by 3.8% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 4,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,863,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $966,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Chiron Investment Management LLC bought a new position in HCA Healthcare in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,548,000. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 11.5% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,374,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE HCA traded down $0.02 on Tuesday, hitting $335.83. 308,248 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,183,799. The company has a market capitalization of $85.07 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.68. The business’s fifty day moving average is $384.12 and its 200 day moving average is $358.11. HCA Healthcare has a 52 week low of $245.03 and a 52 week high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.71, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 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.