UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $581.44.

UNH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $596.00 to $555.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $580.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $591.00 price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $534.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $597.00 price target for the company.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $511.53 on Wednesday. UnitedHealth Group has a one year low of $436.38 and a one year high of $554.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $499.58 and its 200 day moving average is $499.68. The firm has a market cap of $470.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.60.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.63 by $0.28. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.50% and a net margin of 4.05%. The firm had revenue of $99.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th were paid a $2.10 dividend. This is a positive change from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Norges Bank bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth about $5,802,231,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 53,573.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,352,490 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,238,515,000 after purchasing an additional 2,348,107 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,117,462,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 107.8% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,306,729 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,141,113,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 49.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,195,352 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by 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.