HCA Holdings' shares rose 3.4 percent in their first day of public trading Thursday, bucking an otherwise dismal day on Wall Street that was rocked by weak global economic news and a slump in oil companies. But the Nashville-based hospital chain gained $1.02 per share to finish at $31.02 on the day after HCA and stockholders sold 126.2 million shares in the largest private-equity-backed initial public offering of stock in U.S history. Analysts caution against reading too much into the results on any stock's first trading day because interest often is high at the outset of a new issue, including from institutional buyers and sellers rearranging their stock portfolios.
