DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Acquires 228 Shares of Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,383 shares of the health services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Universal Health Services were worth $516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in UHS. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Universal Health Services by 4,906.0% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,354 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $511,000 after acquiring an additional 3,287 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Universal Health Services by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 29,932 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $4,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,476 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Universal Health Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,784,000. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Universal Health Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $526,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Universal Health Services by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 53,239 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $8,116,000 after acquiring an additional 7,616 shares during the period. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Universal Health Services from $144.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com raised Universal Health Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Universal Health Services from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $156.00 target price on shares of Universal Health Services in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Universal Health Services from $208.00 to $203.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.71.

Universal Health Services Stock Down 0.3 %

UHS stock opened at $166.35 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $170.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $151.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Universal Health Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $119.90 and a 1-year high of $183.61. The stock has a market cap of $11.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.24.

Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The health services provider reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.11. Universal Health Services had a return on equity of 12.08% and a net margin of 5.03%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Universal Health Services, Inc. will post 13.39 EPS for the current year.

Universal Health Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Universal Health Services’s payout ratio is presently 7.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Universal Health Services

In other Universal Health Services news, CFO Steve Filton sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.82, for a total value of $6,188,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 68,785 shares in the company, valued at $12,162,563.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

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.