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

Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated their overweight rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $700.00 price target on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $625.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Friday, October 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $627.74.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $510.03 on Friday. UnitedHealth Group has a 1 year low of $436.38 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The company has a market capitalization of $469.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.23, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $551.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $562.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.6 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,096,896,000 after acquiring an additional 5,290,025 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $480,903,000. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 9,235.4% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 784,924 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $458,929,000 after buying an additional 776,516 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 33.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,361,396 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,380,661,000 after acquiring an additional 587,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 129.7% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,029,540 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $601,951,000 after purchasing an additional 581,324 shares in 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.