Brookdale Senior Living CEO Bill Sheriff last week sold shares worth more than $540,000 to cover the tax costs related to the vesting of restricted stock units in the nursing home operator. Sheriff's sale, undertaken as part of a previously arranged trading plan, still leaves him in direct or indirect control of about $14 million worth of Brookdale shares (Ticker: BKD), which have fallen more than 30 percent this year.

National HealthCare Corp. Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs David Lassiter last week cashed in almost a quarter of his shares in the nursing home operator, a move that let him pocket more than $500,000. Lassiter joined Murfreesboro-based NHC in 1995. Shares of the company (Ticker: NHC) are down slightly in 2011, but have climbed more than 40 percent from their early-August lows.

Despite all the 2011 noise related to their failed attempt to buy Tenet Healthcare and the resulting lawsuit that put their admissions practices in the spotlight, Community Health Systems executives last week told Barclays analyst Adam Feinstein they are both confident in their ability to pursue other deals and comfortable with their debt load and timetables. CHS shares (Ticker: CYH) are down 50 percent this year.

Feinstein also was in on Brookdale Senior Living's investor day last week and says the company is focused on expanding the services offered at many of its facilities. That longer-term view has potential: Feinstein has reiterated his 'equalweight' rating and $20 price target. Rob Mains at Morgan Keegan also has reiterated his 'outperform' rating and $21 target. Brookdale (Ticker: BKD) closed Monday trading at $14.39.

Wanna draw a line from Greece to big chunks of Nashville's health care scene? Stifel Nicolaus analyst Jerry Doctrow says "the spectacle playing out in Europe and a strong desire by members of Congress to avoid the 'do nothing' label in upcoming elections both create some real pressure to act." And that means there's a good chance of serious changes to Medicare and Medicaid criteria and/or reimbursements — despite the best efforts of the industry's lobbyists.

Locally based RBC Capital Markets analyst Frank Morgan has lowered his price target on shares of Brookdale Senior Living to $26 from $28. Morgan has kept his "outperform" rating on the stock, which has climbed by more than 25 percent (Ticker: BKD) in the past month but is down more than 20 percent this year. Brentwood-based Brookdale last week reported Q3 numbers its CEO called "solid."

Researcher Rob Mains at Morgan Keegan has raised his price target for Healthcare Realty Trust (Ticker: HR) to $22, which is changing hands this afternoon at about $18.30. The move comes a week after Nashville-based Healthcare Realty said it had reversed its year-ago Q3 loss.

Covington Health, the Georgia-based group of investors that's been steadily accumulating shares of nursing home operator Advocat since late this spring, is still in the game for more. Over the past three trading days, Covington paid about $70,000 for another 11,700 shares. But there's still no word on what, if anything, its members actually want the company to do or change.