UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Sets New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) reached a new 52-week low on Monday after Oppenheimer lowered their price target on the stock from $640.00 to $600.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. UnitedHealth Group traded as low as $431.98 and last traded at $435.32, with a volume of 3059387 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $454.11.

UNH has been the subject of several other research reports. HSBC raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $626.52.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 4.1 %

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 company has a fifty day moving average of $512.95 and a 200-day moving average of $539.93. The company has a market capitalization of $398.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.05, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.19%.

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.