400 Shares in Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) Purchased by Board of the Pension Protection Fund

Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 400 shares of the health services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $72,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Universal Health Services by 86.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 21,047 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $4,820,000 after purchasing an additional 9,755 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Universal Health Services by 0.9% during the 3rd 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. Vestcor Inc boosted its position in shares of Universal Health Services by 1,436.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 54,070 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $12,383,000 after acquiring an additional 50,551 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Universal Health Services in the third quarter valued at about $13,496,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Universal Health Services by 4.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,661,530 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $379,403,000 after purchasing an additional 63,754 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 analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $226.00 price target on shares of Universal Health Services in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com lowered Universal Health Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Universal Health Services from $275.00 to $251.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Universal Health Services from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $219.00 price objective on shares of Universal Health Services in a report on Friday, October 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $226.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Universal Health Services news, Director Maria Ruderman Singer sold 1,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.15, for a total transaction of $308,516.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,879 shares in the company, valued at $1,123,770.85. The trade was a 21.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 16.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Universal Health Services Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE UHS opened at $183.50 on Thursday. 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 has a market cap of $12.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.20, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $207.55. Universal Health Services, Inc. has a one year low of $150.11 and a one year high of $243.25.

Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The health services provider reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.75 by ($0.04). Universal Health Services had a net margin of 6.66% and a return on equity of 15.75%. The business had revenue of $3.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.55 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Universal Health Services, Inc. will post 15.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Universal Health Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Universal Health Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.32%.

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.