Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Universal Health Services, Inc. $UHS

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,376 shares of the health services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Universal Health Services were worth $2,423,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in UHS. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Universal Health Services by 57.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 931,355 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $173,381,000 after purchasing an additional 340,966 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Universal Health Services by 329.4% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 404,806 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $76,081,000 after purchasing an additional 310,531 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Universal Health Services during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,555,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Universal Health Services by 119.5% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 241,164 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $43,687,000 after purchasing an additional 131,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Universal Health Services by 113.5% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 242,500 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $45,566,000 after purchasing an additional 128,900 shares during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UHS has been the subject of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $227.00 price objective on shares of Universal Health Services in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Universal Health Services from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Universal Health Services from $210.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Universal Health Services from $259.00 to $250.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Universal Health Services from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $215.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $217.08.

Universal Health Services Stock Performance

UHS opened at $197.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $12.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.30. Universal Health Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $152.33 and a 1-year high of $240.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $188.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The health services provider reported $5.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.85 by $0.50. The business had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.24 billion. Universal Health Services had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 18.25%. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.31 earnings per share. Universal Health Services has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.000-21.000 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Universal Health Services, Inc. will post 15.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Universal Health Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. Universal Health Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.21%.

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.