Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) Earns Underweight Rating from Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald restated their underweight rating on shares of Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS - Free Report) in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has a $156.00 target price on the health services provider's stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on UHS. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Universal Health Services from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Universal Health Services from $170.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Universal Health Services from $140.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Universal Health Services from $152.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Universal Health Services in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $181.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $176.29.

Universal Health Services Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of UHS stock traded down $1.27 on Wednesday, hitting $170.23. 380,596 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 546,934. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.24. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $170.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $150.44. Universal Health Services has a one year low of $119.90 and a one year high of $183.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The health services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.66 billion. Universal Health Services had a net margin of 5.03% and a return on equity of 12.08%. The company's revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.02 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Universal Health Services will post 13.39 EPS for the current year.

Universal Health Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Universal Health Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Universal Health Services news, CFO Steve Filton sold 35,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.82, for a total transaction of $6,188,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 68,785 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,162,563.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 16.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UHS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Universal Health Services by 1.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,856,010 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $1,138,729,000 after purchasing an additional 146,820 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Universal Health Services by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,026,512 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $728,594,000 after buying an additional 113,259 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Universal Health Services by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,398,974 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $427,353,000 after buying an additional 134,122 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Universal Health Services by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,071,022 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $315,707,000 after buying an additional 103,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Universal Health Services by 12.9% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,707,708 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $214,710,000 after buying an additional 195,650 shares during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.