UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Given “Overweight” Rating at Cantor Fitzgerald

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $591.00 price objective on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price target points to a potential upside of 1.57% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on UNH. Baird R W raised shares of UnitedHealth Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $560.00 to $604.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $555.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UNH traded up $4.18 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $581.86. 387,437 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,204,045. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $535.54 billion, a PE ratio of 35.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.59. UnitedHealth Group has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $591.54. The company’s 50 day moving average is $529.38 and its 200 day moving average is $507.42.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.66 by $0.14. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The company had revenue of $98.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $98.73 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.14 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total transaction of $1,624,727.88. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares in the company, valued at $16,812,029.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other UnitedHealth Group news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total transaction of $868,545.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at $4,507,748.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total transaction of $1,624,727.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,501 shares in the company, valued at $16,812,029.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UNH. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,468 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,352,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth $158,000. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1,337.3% during the fourth quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. now owns 97,679 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $51,425,000 after purchasing an additional 90,883 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,617,813 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,904,670,000 after buying an additional 1,195,352 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified LLC lifted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Diversified LLC now owns 2,879 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,516,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.