MCA Stock Continues to Climb on Heavy Volume, Closes at $62

MCA stock continued to climb Friday on heavy volume, closing at $62, up $4.875, in composite New York Stock Exchange trading.

More than 1.78 million shares of the Los Angeles entertainment company changed hands, apparently spurred by speculation that the recent hospitalization of MCA’s 74-year-old chairman and chief executive, Lew R. Wasserman, might make the company vulnerable to a change of control.

More than 1 million shares of MCA have changed hands on five of the last six trading days, compared to the stock’s average daily volume of 418,656 shares in 1987. Since July 2, the stock has risen more than $14, or nearly 30%.

Only 400 shares were traded at Friday’s peak price of $62 in late trading on the Pacific Stock Exchange, according to an exchange official. Earlier in the day, MCA closed at $60.625, up $3.50, on the New York Stock Exchange where it was the 10th most active issue.