Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS – Get Rating) shares have received an average rating of “Hold” from the eighteen brokerages that cover the company, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, and four have issued a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts who have updated their coverage on the stock over the past year is $131.20.
Several stock research analysts have recently released reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised Universal Health Services’ valuation from an “underweight” valuation to an “equal weight” valuation and raised the price target for the company from $113.00 to $154.00 in a report of research Tuesday 3 January. UBS Group increased its price target on universal healthcare services to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, Nov. 16. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised its price target on universal healthcare services from $130.00 to $168.00 on Tuesday, January 3. SVB Leerink raised its price target on Universal Health Services from $98.00 to $114.00 and assigned the stock a “market performance” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 27. Lastly, Bank of America upgraded its valuation of Universal Health Services from an “underperforming” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised its price target for the stock from $120.00 to $145.00 in a note. search Friday 16 December.
Trade in universal healthcare services up 1.2%
Shares of Universal Health Services opened at $147.88 on Friday. Universal Health Services has a 1-year low of $82.50 and a 1-year high of $158.28. The company has a market cap of $10.56 billion, a PE ratio of 15.21, a P/E/G ratio of 4.73, and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a fifty-day moving average price of $133.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $113.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.27, and a prompt ratio of 1.15.
Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS – Get Rating) last reported its earnings results on Tuesday, October 25. The healthcare provider reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.54 for the quarter, beating the $2.40 consensus estimate by $0.14. Universal Health Services reported a return on equity of 12.49% and a net margin of 5.59%. The company reported revenue of $3.34 billion during the quarter, compared with analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company reported EPS of $2.67. The company’s revenues increased 5.7% over the same quarter last year. Equity research analysts expect Universal Health Services to post 9.8 EPS for the current year.
Announcement of the Universal Health Services dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 1 received a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday 30 November. This represents an annualized dividend of $0.80 and a yield of 0.54%. Universal Health Services’ dividend payout ratio is currently 8.23%.
Institutional income and expenses
Several large investors have recently increased or decreased their stakes in UHS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Universal Health Services shares by 1.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,856,010 shares of the healthcare provider valued at $1,138,729,000 after acquiring an additional 146,820 shares during the most recent quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Universal Health Services shares by 3.6% during the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,580,653 shares of the healthcare provider valued at $562,028,000 after acquiring an additional 195,345 shares during the most recent quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Universal Health Services shares by 2.3% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,026,512 shares of the healthcare provider valued at $728,594,000 after acquiring an additional 113,259 shares during the most recent quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Universal Health Services shares by 12.4% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,788,886 shares of the health care provider valued at $157,743,000 after acquiring an additional 197,974 shares during the most recent quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA added to its position in Universal Health Services shares by 0.7% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,101,218 shares of the health care provider valued at $97,105,000 after acquiring an additional 8,038 shares during the most recent quarter. Institutional investors hold 87.17% of the company’s shares.
Information on universal health services
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Universal Health Services, Inc, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates acute care hospitals, ambulatory and behavioral health facilities. The company operates through the Acute Care Hospital Services and Behavioral Health Services segments. Its hospitals offer general and specialty surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics, emergency care, radiology, oncology, diagnostic and coronary, pediatric services, pharmacy services, and/or behavioral health services.
Further reading
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