Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 142 Shares of Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its stake in shares of Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,881 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 142 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Universal Health Services were worth $744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Universal Health Services by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,398,974 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $427,353,000 after purchasing an additional 134,122 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Universal Health Services by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,071,022 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $315,707,000 after purchasing an additional 103,802 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Universal Health Services by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,707,708 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $214,710,000 after purchasing an additional 195,650 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC raised its stake in Universal Health Services by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,463,921 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $184,059,000 after acquiring an additional 6,400 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Universal Health Services by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,090,010 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $137,047,000 after acquiring an additional 37,243 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.05% of the company’s stock.

Universal Health Services Stock Performance

UHS opened at $180.20 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $12.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.26. Universal Health Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.90 and a 52-week high of $183.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $172.55 and its 200-day moving average is $159.58.

Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The health services provider reported $3.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.14 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $3.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. Universal Health Services had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 5.57%. Universal Health Services’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.34 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Universal Health Services, Inc. will post 13.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Universal Health Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. Universal Health Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.78%.

Insider Transactions at Universal Health Services

In other news, CFO Steve Filton sold 35,000 shares of the 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 sale, 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 is accessible through the SEC website. 16.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UHS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price target on Universal Health Services from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target 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. TD Cowen increased their price target on Universal Health Services from $181.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $156.00 price target on shares of Universal Health Services in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective on shares of Universal Health Services in a report on Thursday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Universal Health Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.47.

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.