Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on UHS. Bank of America lowered Universal Health Services from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $185.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Stephens raised Universal Health Services to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Universal Health Services from $257.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group set a $227.00 price objective on Universal Health Services in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Universal Health Services from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $214.77.

Universal Health Services Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of Universal Health Services stock opened at $189.65 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $176.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.69. Universal Health Services has a 1 year low of $152.33 and a 1 year high of $243.25. The firm has a market cap of $12.07 billion, a PE ratio of 9.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The health services provider reported $5.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.85 by $0.50. Universal Health Services had a return on equity of 18.25% and a net margin of 7.66%.The company had revenue of $4.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Universal Health Services has set its FY 2025 guidance at 20.000-21.000 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Universal Health Services will post 15.92 EPS for the current year.

Universal Health Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. Universal Health Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.21%.

Institutional Trading of Universal Health Services

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Universal Health Services by 11.1% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,461,198 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $264,696,000 after acquiring an additional 145,730 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Universal Health Services by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,241,738 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $233,311,000 after acquiring an additional 102,137 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Universal Health Services by 57.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 931,355 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $173,381,000 after acquiring an additional 340,966 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Universal Health Services by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 926,669 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $167,866,000 after acquiring an additional 31,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Universal Health Services by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 639,524 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $115,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,932 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

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.