UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Tuesday morning.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on UNH. UBS Group dropped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $592.18 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. UnitedHealth Group has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $630.73. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $582.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $548.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $544.97 billion, a PE ratio of 38.72, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $6.56 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.61 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 54.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Insight Inv LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter worth about $88,000. Brophy Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,254,000. Vestcor Inc grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 2.3% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 55,287 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $32,325,000 after purchasing an additional 1,269 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $128,975,000 after buying an additional 26,074 shares during the period. Finally, Executive Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Executive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $636,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.