New York Life Investment Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS)

New York Life Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,483 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 218 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Universal Health Services were worth $1,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Universal Health Services by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 74,240 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $11,317,000 after purchasing an additional 9,221 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Universal Health Services by 3.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,090,010 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $137,047,000 after buying an additional 37,243 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Universal Health Services by 51.2% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 62,949 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $7,915,000 after buying an additional 21,325 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Universal Health Services by 4,622.3% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 16,906 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $2,125,000 after buying an additional 16,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Universal Health Services by 16.7% during 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 buying an additional 7,616 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steve Filton sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.82, for a total transaction of $6,188,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on UHS shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Universal Health Services from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $156.00 price objective on shares of Universal Health Services in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Universal Health Services from $170.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $185.00 price target on shares of Universal Health Services in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Universal Health Services from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Universal Health Services has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $183.20.

Universal Health Services Trading Up 0.2 %

UHS stock opened at $169.50 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Universal Health Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $119.90 and a twelve month high of $183.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $171.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.83.

Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The health services provider reported $3.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.14 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. Universal Health Services had a net margin of 5.57% and a return on equity of 13.34%. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.34 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Universal Health Services, Inc. will post 13.51 earnings per share for the current year.

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.