HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Short Interest Down 6.1% in April

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,480,000 shares, a decrease of 6.1% from the April 15th total of 2,640,000 shares. Approximately 1.3% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,030,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HCA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $335.00 price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $371.00 to $360.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $303.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of HCA Healthcare from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $317.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total transaction of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $520,474. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Chad J. Wasserman sold 876 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.25, for a total value of $289,299.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $520,474. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael S. Cuffe sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.00, for a total transaction of $494,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,124 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,544,316. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,754 shares of company stock valued at $3,714,312 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in HCA Healthcare in the 1st quarter valued at $215,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 665.9% in the 1st quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 3,140 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 2,730 shares in the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 7,963 shares of the company's stock worth $2,656,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCA Healthcare during the 1st quarter worth $321,000. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of HCA Healthcare by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 4,768 shares of the company's stock worth $1,590,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company's stock.

HCA Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE:HCA traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $322.86. 739,180 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,085,721. HCA Healthcare has a 52-week low of $215.96 and a 52-week high of $335.83. The company's 50 day moving average price is $320.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $302.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.26, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.09, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.66.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $5.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.01 by $0.35. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 674.49% and a net margin of 8.20%. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.93 earnings per share. HCA Healthcare's revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that HCA Healthcare will post 20.79 earnings per share for the current year.

HCA Healthcare announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. HCA Healthcare's payout ratio is 13.16%.

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.

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