UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on UNH. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH opened at $590.87 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $543.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $582.63 and its 200-day moving average is $552.95.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The business had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.56 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.72%.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,540,102 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $26,626,387,000 after purchasing an additional 563,554 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,062,928 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,893,331,000 after acquiring an additional 94,641 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,636,704 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $11,440,133,000 after acquiring an additional 318,039 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,039,601 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,094,247,000 after purchasing an additional 35,533 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 78,814.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,296,737 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $3,096,896,000 after buying an additional 5,290,025 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile

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.