UBS Group Cuts UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target to $650.00

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price target decreased by stock analysts at UBS Group from $680.00 to $650.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock. UBS Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 13.16% from the company’s current price.

UNH has been the subject of several other reports. Stephens cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $580.00 to $610.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted 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. Argus lifted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $570.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.16.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded up $18.10 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $574.39. The company had a trading volume of 2,616,564 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,947,339. The stock has a market cap of $528.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.11, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $584.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $532.57. UnitedHealth Group has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $608.63.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.56 EPS. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,507,748.55. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of UNH. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 84,405,255 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $41,755,280,000 after purchasing an additional 544,740 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $12,893,331,000 after purchasing an additional 94,641 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,094,247,000 after purchasing an additional 35,533 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 30.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,816,254 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,942,956,000 after purchasing an additional 880,183 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,772,487 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,920,039,000 after buying an additional 21,149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

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.