HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Short Interest Update

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,600,000 shares, a decrease of 13.0% from the March 15th total of 2,990,000 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,060,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on HCA shares. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Barclays began coverage on HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $356.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded HCA Healthcare from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $277.00 to $301.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $314.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total transaction of $203,450.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 290 shares of the company's stock, valued at $90,491.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 652 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.04, for a total transaction of $203,450.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,491.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Kathryn A. Torres sold 3,861 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total transaction of $1,185,327.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,899 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,880,993. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,840 shares of company stock worth $4,588,869 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 461 shares of the company's stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 166 shares of the company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in HCA Healthcare by 1.0% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,879 shares of the company's stock worth $1,294,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,527 shares of the company's stock worth $711,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 981 shares of the company's stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. 62.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

HCA Healthcare Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of HCA stock traded down $4.43 on Friday, reaching $322.82. 994,870 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 802,935. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $319.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $279.63. HCA Healthcare has a 1-year low of $215.96 and a 1-year high of $335.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 35.07. The stock has a market cap of $85.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.65.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $5.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.85. HCA Healthcare had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 996.30%. The firm had revenue of $17.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.64 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare's revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that HCA Healthcare will post 20.49 EPS for the current year.

HCA Healthcare Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. This is a positive change from HCA Healthcare's previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.91%.

HCA Healthcare announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.