Royal Bank of Canada Issues Pessimistic Forecast for UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Price

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price objective reduced by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $525.00 to $355.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 21.89% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $560.00 to $350.00 in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $486.00.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH opened at $291.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. UnitedHealth Group has a 52-week low of $248.88 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The company has a 50 day moving average of $470.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $513.60. The company has a market cap of $264.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.91 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO John F. Rex acquired 17,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 203,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,329,091.52. The trade was a 9.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen J. Hemsley bought 86,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $288.57 per share, for a total transaction of $25,019,019.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 679,493 shares in the company, valued at $196,081,295.01. This trade represents a 14.63% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

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.