This Is What Whales Are Betting On HCA Healthcare

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on HCA Healthcare HCA.

And retail traders should know.

We noticed this today when the trades showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga.

Whether these are institutions or just wealthy individuals, we don't know. But when something this big happens with HCA, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.

So how do we know what these investors just did?

Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 8 uncommon options trades for HCA Healthcare.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 12% bullish and 50%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 4 are puts, for a total amount of $365,074, and 4 are calls, for a total amount of $321,050.

Projected Price Targets

Based on the trading activity, it appears that the significant investors are aiming for a price territory stretching from $370.0 to $430.0 for HCA Healthcare over the recent three months.

Volume & Open Interest Trends

Looking at the volume and open interest is an insightful way to conduct due diligence on a stock.

This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for HCA Healthcare's options for a given strike price.

Below, we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts, respectively, for all of HCA Healthcare's whale activity within a strike price range from $370.0 to $430.0 in the last 30 days.

HCA Healthcare 30-Day Option Volume & Interest Snapshot

Significant Options Trades Detected:

About HCA Healthcare

HCA Healthcare is a Nashville-based healthcare provider organization operating the largest collection of acute-care hospitals in the United States. As of June 2024, the firm owned and operated 188 hospitals, 123 freestanding outpatient surgery centers, and a broad network of physician offices, urgent-care clinics, and freestanding emergency rooms across 20 states and a small foothold in England.

In light of the recent options history for HCA Healthcare, it's now appropriate to focus on the company itself. We aim to explore its current performance.

HCA Healthcare's Current Market Status

• Currently trading with a volume of 512,327, the HCA's price is up by 0.12%, now at $374.21.
• RSI readings suggest the stock is currently may be overbought.
• Anticipated earnings release is in 64 days.

Professional Analyst Ratings for HCA Healthcare

In the last month, 5 experts released ratings on this stock with an average target price of $400.8.

• In a cautious move, an analyst from Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded its rating to Overweight, setting a price target of $392.
• An analyst from Barclays has decided to maintain their Overweight rating on HCA Healthcare, which currently sits at a price target of $396.
• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Truist Securities keeps a Buy rating on HCA Healthcare with a target price of $430.
• Consistent in their evaluation, an analyst from Truist Securities keeps a Buy rating on HCA Healthcare with a target price of $390.
• An analyst from Leerink Partners persists with their Outperform rating on HCA Healthcare, maintaining a target price of $396.

Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock, but they have higher profit potential. Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily, scaling in and out of trades, following more than one indicator, and following the markets closely.

If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for HCA Healthcare, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.