UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target Lowered to $325.00 at Morgan Stanley

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price objective cut by Morgan Stanley from $342.00 to $325.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on UNH. Erste Group Bank cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $306.00 to $267.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $418.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $365.38.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UNH stock opened at $299.8310 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. UnitedHealth Group has a one year low of $234.60 and a one year high of $630.73. The stock has a market cap of $271.55 billion, a PE ratio of 12.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $288.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $392.90.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by ($0.37). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 5.04%.The company had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.80 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.000- EPS. On average, analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $2.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 38.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UnitedHealth Group news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $179,645.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,171,390. This represents a 5.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UNH. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 176.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 44,249 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $22,384,000 after acquiring an additional 28,231 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 137.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,324 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 522 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 8,751 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,785,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,421,016,000 after acquiring an additional 723,115 shares in the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by 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.