Short Interest in HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA) Decreases By 15.1%

HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,740,000 shares, a decrease of 15.1% from the March 31st total of 5,580,000 shares. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,730,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Insider Transactions at HCA Healthcare

In other HCA Healthcare news, SVP Jennifer Berres sold 9,533 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.59, for a total transaction of $3,075,250.47. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,971,757.08. This trade represents a 38.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCA Healthcare

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 1,039 shares of the company's stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,838,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lifted its stake in HCA Healthcare by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 10,592 shares of the company's stock worth $3,153,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCA Healthcare by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 872 shares of the company's stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in HCA Healthcare by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 700 shares of the company's stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HCA shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on HCA Healthcare from $384.00 to $376.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of HCA Healthcare from $430.00 to $390.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of HCA Healthcare in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $336.00 price target (down previously from $396.00) on shares of HCA Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on HCA Healthcare from $392.00 to $366.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, HCA Healthcare currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $381.13.

HCA Healthcare Trading Up 1.5 %

HCA opened at $348.11 on Friday. HCA Healthcare has a 1-year low of $289.98 and a 1-year high of $417.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.07, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.48. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $331.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $330.75.

HCA Healthcare (NYSE:HCA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $0.70. HCA Healthcare had a return on equity of 586.47% and a net margin of 8.16%. The business had revenue of $18.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.36 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that HCA Healthcare will post 24.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

HCA Healthcare Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. HCA Healthcare's dividend payout ratio is presently 12.81%.

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.