1,937 Shares in Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) Bought by HighPoint Advisor Group LLC

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 1,937 shares of the health services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $351,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of UHS. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Universal Health Services by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 54,105 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $9,721,000 after purchasing an additional 9,946 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in Universal Health Services by 255.3% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 6,345 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,138,000 after buying an additional 4,559 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Universal Health Services by 175.6% during the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 2,792 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $501,000 after buying an additional 1,779 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Universal Health Services by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,197,537 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $274,248,000 after acquiring an additional 10,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc increased its position in shares of Universal Health Services by 1,436.5% in the third 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on UHS. Barclays decreased their price target on Universal Health Services from $271.00 to $249.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Universal Health Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $228.00 to $198.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Universal Health Services from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Universal Health Services from $210.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Universal Health Services from $230.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.38.

Insider Activity

In other Universal Health Services news, Director Maria Ruderman Singer sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.16, for a total transaction of $179,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,916 shares in the company, valued at $1,418,230.56. This trade represents a 11.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 16.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Universal Health Services Stock Performance

UHS opened at $188.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $196.24. Universal Health Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $152.69 and a 1 year high of $243.25. The company has a market capitalization of $12.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.32.

Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The health services provider reported $4.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.21 by $0.71. Universal Health Services had a net margin of 6.66% and a return on equity of 15.75%. The company had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. Research analysts expect that Universal Health Services, Inc. will post 15.92 EPS for the current year.

Universal Health Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Universal Health Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.75%.

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.