Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $271.00 to $249.00. The stock had previously closed at $186.06, but opened at $170.61. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Universal Health Services shares last traded at $172.44, with a volume of 189,155 shares.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on UHS. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Universal Health Services from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Universal Health Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Universal Health Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $228.00 to $198.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Universal Health Services from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $226.00 price target on shares of Universal Health Services in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Universal Health Services

In other Universal Health Services news, Director Maria Ruderman Singer sold 1,614 shares of Universal Health Services stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.15, for a total value of $308,516.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,123,770.85. The trade was a 21.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Universal Health Services by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,675,182 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $838,821,000 after buying an additional 44,099 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Universal Health Services by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,724,075 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $623,840,000 after acquiring an additional 17,527 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Universal Health Services by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,713,572 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $306,776,000 after acquiring an additional 52,042 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Universal Health Services by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,241,340 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $222,721,000 after acquiring an additional 253,385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in 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 valued at $274,248,000 after purchasing an additional 10,578 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Universal Health Services Stock Down 7.7 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $205.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.36, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The health services provider reported $4.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.21 by $0.71. Universal Health Services had a return on equity of 15.75% and a net margin of 6.66%. The business had revenue of $4.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Universal Health Services, Inc. will post 15.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Universal Health Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Universal Health Services’s payout ratio 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.