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 note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on UNH. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $591.00 to $644.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. KeyCorp began coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $675.00 target price on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $604.00 to $603.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Stephens cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $632.00 to $605.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $615.53.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $564.56 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $519.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.58. UnitedHealth Group has a 12-month low of $436.38 and a 12-month high of $608.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $583.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $538.58.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.00 by $0.15. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.37% and a net margin of 3.63%. The company had revenue of $100.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $2.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 671.4% during the 2nd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 54 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 757.1% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 60 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 152.4% during the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 53 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.