National Bank of Canada FI lessened its holdings in shares of Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS - Free Report) by 67.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,265 shares of the health services provider's stock after selling 64,808 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI's holdings in Universal Health Services were worth $7,160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Universal Health Services by 134.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,744 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $1,595,000 after buying an additional 5,010 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Universal Health Services by 31.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 942 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Universal Health Services by 257.1% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 13,818 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $2,555,000 after purchasing an additional 9,949 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Universal Health Services by 14.1% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,303 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Universal Health Services by 1,284.6% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 180 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. 86.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
UHS has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America started coverage on Universal Health Services in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $223.00 target price for the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Universal Health Services from $247.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Universal Health Services from $236.00 to $274.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Universal Health Services from $222.00 to $211.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Universal Health Services from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $225.50.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Universal Health Services
UHS opened at $190.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.28. Universal Health Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $142.68 and a 12 month high of $243.25. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $208.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $208.21. The stock has a market cap of $12.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.28.
Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The health services provider reported $3.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.75 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $3.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. Universal Health Services had a net margin of 6.66% and a return on equity of 15.75%. Universal Health Services's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Universal Health Services, Inc. will post 15.88 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. Universal Health Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.32%.
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.
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
Before you consider Universal Health Services, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Universal Health Services wasn't on the list.
While Universal Health Services currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.