UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Upgraded at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) from a sell (d+) rating to a hold (c-) rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

UNH has been the subject of several other research reports. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $379.00 to $433.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $198.00 price objective (down from $312.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $317.00 to $409.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $385.13.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

Shares of UNH stock opened at $362.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. UnitedHealth Group has a 52 week low of $234.60 and a 52 week high of $630.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $338.43 and a 200-day moving average of $335.78. The company has a market cap of $328.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.47.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by ($0.37). The company had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 5.04%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.80 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.000- EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UNH. MGO One Seven LLC grew its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 135.2% during the third quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 25,201 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,702,000 after purchasing an additional 14,486 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 6,461.3% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,329 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $10,127,000 after acquiring an additional 28,882 shares during the last quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the third quarter valued at about $204,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 13.5% in the third quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,395 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $827,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 155.4% in the 3rd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 2,133 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $769,000 after buying an additional 1,298 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

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.