Taking stock: NY money manager slashes Healthways position

Also: Fidelity adds to Healthcare Realty stake, Advocat rating raised

Email | Print By Geert De Lombaerde

A New York investment firm that late last year built up its stake in Healthways Inc. to about 6.5 percent, bailed on much of that position in the first quarter as Healthways’ stock plunged.

In the first three months of 2008, Baron Capital Group sold off almost 1.5 million of the 2.3 million Healthways shares it owned on Dec. 31. That trimmed its stake in the Franklin-based disease manager (Ticker: HWAY) to 2.3 percent.

Shares of Healthways have traded in the low- to mid-30s since arresting their early-year slide from almost $70. At about 12:20 p.m. today, they were trading at $31, down 2.9 percent.

Healthy growth for Fidelity

FMR LLC, the parent company of Fidelity Investments bulked up its stake in Healthcare Realty Trust during the first quarter, adding more than 1.5 million shares.

The purchases – which came after the investing giant bought 1.7 million Healthcare Realty shares late last year – lift Fidelity’s stake in the Nashville company (Ticker: HR) to 10.0 percent. They also cement its place as the second-largest HR shareholder, trailing only Morgan Stanley, which owned more than 14 percent of the company at the end of 2007.

It’s likely FMR is sitting on a nice gain from its recent moves in Healthcare Realty: The stock is up about 10 percent year to date, with all of that gain coming since mid-March. Early this afternoon, the stock was changing hands at $27.97, up 1.4 percent on the day.

Advocat snags upgrade

Analysts at TheStreet.com Ratings have raised their opinion of nursing home operator Advocat Inc. from ‘hold’ to ‘buy.’ The move comes a few days after the company (Ticker: AVCA) released strong earnings that lifted its stock back into positive territory for the year. In early afternoon, Advocat shares were trading down 1 percent at $11.23.