Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) Receives “Equal Weight” Rating from Stephens

Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Stephens in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $185.00 price target on the health services provider’s stock. Stephens’ target price points to a potential upside of 13.66% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently commented on UHS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Universal Health Services from $144.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Universal Health Services from $152.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays started coverage on Universal Health Services in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $181.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Universal Health Services from $208.00 to $203.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Universal Health Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Universal Health Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $180.07.

Universal Health Services Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of Universal Health Services stock traded down $3.14 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $162.76. The company had a trading volume of 696,084 shares, compared to its average volume of 573,281. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $170.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $10.94 billion, a PE ratio of 15.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.24. Universal Health Services has a fifty-two week low of $119.90 and a fifty-two week high of $183.61.

Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The health services provider reported $3.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $3.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. Universal Health Services had a return on equity of 12.08% and a net margin of 5.03%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Universal Health Services will post 13.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Universal Health Services news, CFO Steve Filton sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.82, for a total value of $6,188,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 68,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,162,563.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Universal Health Services

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Universal Health Services by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,398,974 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $427,353,000 after buying an additional 134,122 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Universal Health Services by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,071,022 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $315,707,000 after buying an additional 103,802 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Universal Health Services by 12.9% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,707,708 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $214,710,000 after buying an additional 195,650 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Universal Health Services by 0.4% during the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,463,921 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $184,059,000 after buying an additional 6,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Universal Health Services by 3.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,090,010 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $137,047,000 after buying an additional 37,243 shares during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Universal Health Services Company Profile

Universal Health Services, Inc, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates acute care hospitals, and outpatient and behavioral health care facilities. It operates through Acute Care Hospital Services and Behavioral Health Care Services segments. The company's hospitals offer general and specialty surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics, emergency room care, radiology, oncology, diagnostic and coronary care, pediatric services, pharmacy services, and/or behavioral health services.