Analysts Set Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) Target Price at $230.75

Shares of Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $228.38.

UHS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Universal Health Services from $230.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $226.00 target price on shares of Universal Health Services in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Universal Health Services from $271.00 to $249.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Universal Health Services in a report on Wednesday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $200.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on Universal Health Services from $210.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maria Ruderman Singer sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.16, for a total transaction of $179,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,418,230.56. This trade represents a 11.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 16.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Universal Health Services

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Universal Health Services by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 54,105 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $9,721,000 after purchasing an additional 9,946 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in Universal Health Services by 255.3% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 6,345 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after buying an additional 4,559 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc. boosted its position in Universal Health Services by 175.6% in the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 2,792 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $501,000 after buying an additional 1,779 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Universal Health Services by 86.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 21,047 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $4,820,000 after acquiring an additional 9,755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Universal Health Services by 0.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,197,537 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $274,248,000 after acquiring an additional 10,578 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Universal Health Services Stock Up 1.0 %

UHS opened at $186.27 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $12.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $181.89 and its 200 day moving average is $197.67. Universal Health Services has a fifty-two week low of $152.69 and a fifty-two week high of $243.25.

Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The health services provider reported $4.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.21 by $0.71. The business had revenue of $4.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. Universal Health Services had a return on equity of 15.75% and a net margin of 6.66%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Universal Health Services will post 15.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Universal Health Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Universal Health Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.75%.

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.