UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Receives $629.32 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the twenty-two brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $629.32.

UNH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, January 17th.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE UNH opened at $461.09 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $630.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $518.52 and a 200-day moving average of $559.70. The firm has a market cap of $424.33 billion, a PE ratio of 29.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This trade represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.