UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seventeen have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $615.53.

UNH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $569.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $608.63. The company has a market capitalization of $526.33 billion, a PE ratio of 37.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $584.46 and its 200-day moving average is $536.30.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,096,896,000 after purchasing an additional 5,290,025 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth about $1,117,462,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 107.8% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,306,729 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,141,113,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196,758 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter worth about $480,903,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,942,956,000 after acquiring an additional 880,183 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. The UnitedHealthcare segment offers consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services for national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; health care coverage, and health and well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs; Medicaid plans, children's health insurance and health care programs; and health and dental benefits, and hospital and clinical services, as well as health care benefits products and services to state programs caring for the economically disadvantaged, medically underserved, and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage.