UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on UNH. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $675.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded UnitedHealth Group to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $579.74.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 4.7 %

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $509.26 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $498.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $501.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $468.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.13, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group has a 1-year low of $436.38 and a 1-year high of $554.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.23 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.26 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th were given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 51.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bell Investment Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 525 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.2% in the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 35,946 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $17,783,000 after buying an additional 1,129 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,941 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $8,919,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,246 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bellecapital International Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Bellecapital International Ltd. now owns 13,823 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,277,000 after buying an additional 193 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.