UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

UNH has been the subject of several other reports. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $627.74.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE UNH opened at $528.94 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $486.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $543.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $563.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group has a 12 month low of $436.38 and a 12 month high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,000 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $511.57 per share, with a total value of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% during the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 53 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 132.1% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 65 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.