UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Rating Increased 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 published on Tuesday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Bank of America dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, HSBC downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $593.30 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $546.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a fifty day moving average of $582.99 and a 200-day moving average of $548.03. UnitedHealth Group has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.63% and a return on equity of 26.37%. 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 previous year, the firm posted $6.56 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $2.10 dividend. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.72%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,554,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth about $160,000. B&L Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at about $3,763,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $145,848,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 314.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 207 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.