UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target Increased to $680.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its target price upped by UBS Group from $640.00 to $680.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. HSBC raised UnitedHealth Group from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $580.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $481.00 to $647.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $545.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $614.17.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE UNH opened at $565.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $520.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.56, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.60. UnitedHealth Group has a 52 week low of $436.38 and a 52 week high of $581.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $504.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $500.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.88.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.66 by $0.14. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 26.55%. The business had revenue of $98.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $98.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th were issued a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.88. This represents a $8.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total transaction of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,507,748.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $579.03, for a total value of $868,545.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,507,748.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Thomas E. Roos sold 2,851 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.88, for a total transaction of $1,624,727.88. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,812,029.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Norges Bank bought a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,802,231,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,348,107 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the 1st quarter worth about $1,117,462,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 107.8% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 49.3% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,617,813 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,904,670,000 after buying an additional 1,195,352 shares during the period. 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.