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

Stephens reiterated their equal weight rating on shares of Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) in a research note released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $185.00 price target on the health services provider’s stock.

UHS has been the subject of several other reports. 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 research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Barclays assumed 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 for the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on Universal Health Services from $140.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Universal Health Services from $208.00 to $203.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an underweight rating and set a $156.00 price target on shares of Universal Health Services in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Universal Health Services presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $182.64.

Universal Health Services Stock Performance

Shares of UHS stock opened at $166.06 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $170.63 and a 200-day moving average of $153.68. Universal Health Services has a one year low of $119.90 and a one year high of $183.61. The stock has a market cap of $11.16 billion, a PE ratio of 14.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.24.

Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The health services provider reported $3.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.56. Universal Health Services had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 5.57%. The business had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. Universal Health Services’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Universal Health Services will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steve Filton sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 68,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,162,563.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Universal Health Services

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Universal Health Services by 42.8% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 267 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in Universal Health Services in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Universal Health Services in the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Universal Health Services in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in Universal Health Services in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

About Universal Health Services

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.