UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on UNH. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $597.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. HSBC downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $564.56 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $608.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $583.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $536.66. The company has a market capitalization of $521.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.08, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.56 earnings per share. Analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Capital Insight Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.8% in the first quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 9,045 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,475,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter worth about $2,905,000. Vantage Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 42.2% in the first quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 152,107 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $75,247,000 after buying an additional 45,173 shares during the period. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.2% in the third quarter. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV now owns 12,465 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $7,288,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 24,976 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,603,000 after purchasing an additional 3,006 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.