HCA Healthcare (HCA) Short Interest Ratio & Short Volume

Short interest is the volume of HCA Healthcare shares that have been sold short but have not yet been covered or closed out. As of January 15th, investors have sold 4,770,000 shares of HCA short. 2.64% of HCA Healthcare's shares are currently sold short. Learn More on HCA Healthcare's current short interest.

The short interest ratio, also known as the "days to cover ratio", is calculated by dividing the number of shares of a stock sold short divided by its average trading volume. A short interest ratio ranging between 1 and 4 generally indicates strong positive sentiment about a stock and a lack of short sellers. A short interest ratio of 10 or greater indicates strong pessimism about a stock. HCA shares currently have a short interest ratio of 3.0. Learn More on HCA Healthcare's short interest ratio.

As of the most recent reporting period, the following institutional investors, funds, and major shareholders have reported short positions of HCA Healthcare: IMC Chicago LLC, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Jane Street Group LLC, Wolverine Trading LLC, Readystate Asset Management LP, Point72 DIFC Ltd, Point72 Asset Management L.P., Parallax Volatility Advisers L.P., Maven Securities LTD, Garda Capital Partners LP, Verition Fund Management LLC, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC, Walleye Trading LLC, Walleye Capital LLC, PEAK6 Investments LLC, BNP Paribas Financial Markets, Citigroup Inc., and SpiderRock Advisors LLC. These positions are disclosed in Form 13F filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Companies that have a short interest as a percentage of float below 10% indicates positive investor sentiment and few short sellers. Stocks with a short interest percentage above 10% is considered high, suggesting some investors are pessimistic about the stock. Companies with a short interest percentage of 20% or more indicates widespread negative sentiment. 2.64% of HCA Healthcare's floating shares are currently sold short.

HCA Healthcare saw a increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 4,770,000 shares, an increase of 8.4% from the previous total of 4,400,000 shares. Changes in short volume can be used to identify positive and negative investor sentiment. Investors that short sell a stock are betting that its price will decline in the future. An increase in short sale volume suggests bearish (negative) sentiment among investors. A decrease on short sale volume suggests bullish (positive) sentiment.

HCA Healthcare currently has issued a total of 253,300,000 shares. Some of HCA Healthcare's outstanding shares are available for trading, while others are subject to various restrictions. The public float, also referred to as floating shares or "the float", are shares that publicly owned, unrestricted and available to trade on the open market. HCA Healthcare currently has a public float of 181,000,000 shares.

2.64% of HCA Healthcare's shares are currently sold short. Here is how the short interest of companies compare to HCA Healthcare: Alcon Inc. (0.67%), Tenet Healthcare Co. (3.80%), Universal Health Services, Inc. (3.10%), Encompass Health Co. (1.86%), The Ensign Group, Inc. (4.59%), Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc. (6.37%), Select Medical Holdings Co. (3.01%), U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (3.40%), Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. (20.21%), Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (4.58%),

As of the most recent reporting period, the following stocks had the largest short interest positions: AppLovin Co. ($4.18 billion), Charter Communications, Inc. ($3.91 billion), Reddit, Inc. ($3.16 billion), The Kroger Co. ($2.75 billion), International Paper ($2.57 billion), Cencora, Inc. ($2.06 billion), SoFi Technologies, Inc. ($2.06 billion), Rivian Automotive, Inc. ($2.00 billion), Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. ($1.63 billion), and Hims & Hers Health, Inc. ($1.57 billion). View all of the most shorted stocks.

Short selling HCA is an investing strategy that aims to generate trading profit from HCA Healthcare as its price is falling. HCA shares are trading up $8.92 today. To short a stock, an investor borrows shares, sells them and buys the shares back on the public market later to return it to the lender. Short sellers are betting that a stock will decline in price. If the stock does drop after selling, the short seller buys it back at a lower price and returns it to the lender. The difference between the sell price and the buy price is the trader's profit.

A short squeeze for HCA Healthcare occurs when it has a large amount of short interest and its stock appreciates in price. This forces short sellers to cover their short interest positions by buying actual shares of HCA, which in turn drives the price of the stock up even further.

Short interest is typically published by a stock exchange once per month. However, NASDAQ publishes a report for U.S. stocks, including HCA, twice per month. The most recent reporting period available is January, 15 2025.