Insider Selling: U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) COO Sells $142,050.30 in Stock

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. (NYSE:USPH) COO Graham D. Reeve sold 1,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.11, for a total transaction of $142,050.30. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $588,564.48. This represents a 19.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

U.S. Physical Therapy Trading Down 2.9 %

U.S. Physical Therapy stock opened at $80.61 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $87.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.76, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.51. U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. has a 52-week low of $76.18 and a 52-week high of $113.63.

U.S. Physical Therapy (NYSE:USPH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $180.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.10 million. U.S. Physical Therapy had a net margin of 3.54% and a return on equity of 8.11%. Sell-side analysts expect that U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

U.S. Physical Therapy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. This is a positive change from U.S. Physical Therapy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. U.S. Physical Therapy’s payout ratio is presently 97.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of USPH. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in U.S. Physical Therapy by 59.8% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 3,200.0% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 726 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 704 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy by 68.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 774 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of U.S. Physical Therapy during the 4th quarter worth about $84,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. JMP Securities started coverage on shares of U.S. Physical Therapy in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $113.00 price target for the company. Bank of America raised shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $100.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of U.S. Physical Therapy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised shares of U.S. Physical Therapy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, U.S. Physical Therapy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.50.

About U.S. Physical Therapy

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc operates outpatient physical therapy clinics. The company operates through Physical Therapy Operations and Industrial Injury Prevention Services segments. The company provides pre-and post-operative care and treatment for orthopedic-related disorders, sports-related injuries, preventative care, rehabilitation of injured workers, and neurological-related injuries.