Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) Shares Gap Down to $160.03

Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $160.03, but opened at $155.25. Universal Health Services shares last traded at $153.97, with a volume of 161,889 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Universal Health Services from $170.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Mizuho raised their price target on Universal Health Services from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group raised their price target on Universal Health Services from $152.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Universal Health Services from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Universal Health Services from $144.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.71.

Universal Health Services Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $10.43 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $170.67 and a 200 day moving average of $151.78.

Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The health services provider reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.66 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.02 earnings per share. Universal Health Services’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Universal Health Services, Inc. will post 13.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Universal Health Services by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 10,079 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,461,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Universal Health Services by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,674 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,691,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Universal Health Services by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 19,853 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $2,878,000 after acquiring an additional 3,699 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in Universal Health Services by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 9,784 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,418,000 after acquiring an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Universal Health Services by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,026,512 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $728,594,000 after acquiring an additional 113,259 shares during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.