UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Upgraded at Bank of America

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) was upgraded by stock analysts at Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $450.00 price target on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, up from their prior price target of $420.00. Bank of America‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 19.03% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on UNH. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $311.00 to $337.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $410.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $361.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $389.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $340.00 to $373.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $402.00.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $378.07 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group has a fifty-two week low of $234.60 and a fifty-two week high of $404.15. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $343.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $322.52. The company has a market capitalization of $343.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.76 by $0.47. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 2.68% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The business had revenue of $111.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $7.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 18.250- EPS. Analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 18.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 800 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.00, for a total transaction of $284,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 17,805 shares in the company, valued at $6,320,775. This trade represents a 4.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 91,600,260 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,238,162,000 after buying an additional 995,210 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,232,170 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,931,592,000 after buying an additional 1,119,834 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 22,591,042 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,457,723,000 after buying an additional 824,120 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,829,054 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,215,660,000 after buying an additional 680,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,655,111 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,158,734,000 after buying an additional 1,155,162 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Inc is a diversified health care company headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, that operates two primary business platforms: UnitedHealthcare and Optum. Founded in 1977, the company provides a broad range of health benefits and health care services to individuals, employers, governmental entities and other organizations. Its operations span commercial employer-sponsored plans, individual and Medicare and Medicaid programs, and services for customers and health systems in the United States and selected international markets.

UnitedHealthcare is the company’s benefits business, administering health plans and networks, managing provider relationships, and offering coverage products for employers, individuals, and government-sponsored programs.