UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Upgraded at Erste Group Bank

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Erste Group Bank to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

UNH has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $655.00 to $642.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $610.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $632.85.

UnitedHealth Group Price Performance

NYSE UNH opened at $456.10 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $514.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $541.53. UnitedHealth Group has a fifty-two week low of $438.50 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $417.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The business had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.91 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,956,219 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,068,869,000 after purchasing an additional 319,515 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,616,007 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $7,899,905,000 after purchasing an additional 906,365 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,375,744,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,503,671 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,807,527,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,488 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,923,770 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,514,178,000 after acquiring an additional 861,854 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.