HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

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

HCA Healthcare Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of HCA stock traded up $1.75 on Wednesday, reaching $347.48. 1,249,318 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,349,682. HCA Healthcare has a one year low of $289.98 and a one year high of $417.14. The company has a market cap of $85.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.82, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a 50-day moving average of $325.79 and a 200-day moving average of $340.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

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

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. This is an increase from HCA Healthcare’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. HCA Healthcare’s dividend payout ratio is 13.11%.

Insider Activity

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $4,971,757.08. The trade was a 38.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Park National Corp OH grew its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.4% in the first quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 29,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,161,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 29.3% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 486 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 160,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,089,000 after purchasing an additional 9,141 shares during the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new position in HCA Healthcare in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,672,000. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its stake in shares of HCA Healthcare by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 8,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,416,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America decreased their target price on HCA Healthcare from $380.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $405.00 price target on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on HCA Healthcare from $406.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $405.00 to $384.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.