UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target Cut to $595.00

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price objective reduced by Royal Bank of Canada from $615.00 to $595.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen raised their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $546.00 to $601.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $580.00 to $610.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $615.58.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $569.61 on Wednesday. UnitedHealth Group has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $608.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $525.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $584.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $533.63.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UNH. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 35,946 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $17,783,000 after acquiring an additional 1,129 shares during the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9.8% during the first quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,246 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Capital Insight Partners LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 9,045 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,475,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Collective Family Office LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Collective Family Office LLC now owns 1,577 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $780,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the first quarter worth about $282,469,000. Institutional investors 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.