UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Given New $660.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price target trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $694.00 to $660.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on UNH. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group dropped their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UnitedHealth Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $629.32.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $545.29 on Tuesday. UnitedHealth Group has a twelve month low of $436.38 and a twelve month high of $630.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $538.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $565.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $501.82 billion, a PE ratio of 35.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.62.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The firm had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,302,065. The trade was a 28.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 220,590 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $128,975,000 after acquiring an additional 26,074 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1,275.3% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 44,547 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,060,000 after buying an additional 41,308 shares in the last quarter. Parsifal Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 3rd quarter worth $21,165,000. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the last quarter. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.