UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday.

UNH has been the subject of several other reports. Stephens dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $625.00 price objective (down from $640.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UNH opened at $600.50 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $552.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.12, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $582.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $551.60. UnitedHealth Group has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.56 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.6 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.72%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 1,275 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 635 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth $558,000. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $128,975,000 after purchasing an additional 26,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Second Line Capital LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 5,037 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,945,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. 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.