Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Grows Stock Position in Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in shares of Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,436 shares of the health services provider’s stock after buying an additional 176 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Universal Health Services were worth $829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Universal Health Services by 42.8% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 267 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Universal Health Services by 9.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,004 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Humankind Investments LLC lifted its position in Universal Health Services by 4.9% during the third quarter. Humankind Investments LLC now owns 2,124 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its position in Universal Health Services by 3.2% during the third quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 3,250 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Platinum Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Universal Health Services by 16.9% during the third quarter. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. now owns 727 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Universal Health Services from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $156.00 target price on shares of Universal Health Services in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced 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, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Universal Health Services from $144.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Universal Health Services from $152.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Universal Health Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $6,188,700.00. Following the completion of 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Universal Health Services Trading Down 0.5 %

UHS opened at $165.10 on Friday. Universal Health Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $119.90 and a 12 month high of $183.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.99, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.24. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $170.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.10.

Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The health services provider reported $3.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.56. Universal Health Services had a return on equity of 13.43% and a net margin of 5.57%. The firm had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.34 EPS. Universal Health Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Universal Health Services, Inc. will post 13.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.