UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three 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 company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $626.84.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 53 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 671.4% in the 2nd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter worth $31,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $549.49 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $587.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $558.34. UnitedHealth Group has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $505.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.6 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

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.