Short Interest in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Drops By 9.1%

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Erol R. Akdamar sold 2,900 shares of HCA Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $2,415,579. This trade represents a 29.76 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 8,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $11,438,494.76. The trade was a 21.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,155 shares of company stock valued at $5,608,990 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 115.5% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,123,000 after acquiring an additional 1,807 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in HCA Healthcare during the 1st quarter valued at $212,000. Cynosure Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HCA Healthcare in the first quarter valued at $320,000. PAX Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 1st quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in HCA Healthcare by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 50,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,939,000 after purchasing an additional 3,752 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on HCA shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $438.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Leerink Partners upped their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $367.00 to $396.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on HCA Healthcare from $378.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price 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. 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, HCA Healthcare currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.00.

HCA Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of HCA traded down $7.07 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $335.89. The stock had a trading volume of 1,496,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,187,725. HCA Healthcare has a 12 month low of $245.03 and a 12 month high of $417.14. 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 firm has a market cap of $85.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.68. The business has a fifty day moving average of $384.12 and a 200 day moving average of $358.11.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

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