Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Universal Health Services, Inc. (NYSE:UHS) by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 39,655 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 8,845 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Universal Health Services were worth $9,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Universal Health Services by 4.2% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,160 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in Universal Health Services by 19.5% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 386 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in Universal Health Services by 1.1% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 5,704 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $1,306,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Universal Health Services by 3.0% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,238 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in Universal Health Services by 31.6% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 283 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. 86.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UHS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Universal Health Services from $275.00 to $251.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Universal Health Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Universal Health Services in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Universal Health Services from $256.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Universal Health Services from $285.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Universal Health Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.50.

Universal Health Services Stock Performance

Shares of Universal Health Services stock opened at $199.12 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.14 billion, a PE ratio of 13.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $213.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $207.77. Universal Health Services, Inc. has a one year low of $133.70 and a one year high of $243.25.

Universal Health Services (NYSE:UHS) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $3.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.90 billion. Universal Health Services had a return on equity of 15.75% and a net margin of 6.66%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.55 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Universal Health Services, Inc. will post 15.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Universal Health Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Universal Health Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.32%.

Universal Health Services Profile

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.