Raymond James Increases UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target to $620.00

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH – Get Rating) had its price target upped by analysts at Raymond James from $540.00 to $620.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “strong-buy” rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock. Raymond James’ price target indicates a potential upside of 16.09% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $510.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $495.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 30th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 20th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group boosted their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $564.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $542.13.

NYSE UNH opened at $534.08 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $499.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $473.49. The stock has a market cap of $502.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.23, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.88. UnitedHealth Group has a twelve month low of $383.12 and a twelve month high of $553.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.78.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 14th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $5.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $5.38 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $80.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.77 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 24.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.31 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 21.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

In related news, Director Richard T. Burke sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.41, for a total transaction of $2,347,050.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul R. Garcia acquired 2,146 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $464.97 per share, for a total transaction of $997,825.62. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,000 shares of company stock worth $11,123,890 in the last 90 days. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UNH. Steph & Co. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 1,290 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Palisades Hudson Asset Management L.P. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Palisades Hudson Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,078 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $542,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC now owns 881 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 720 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, Griffin Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% in the first quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,695 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,414,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 86.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UnitedHealth Group Company Profile (Get Rating)

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. It 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 well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs for preventive and acute health care services, as well as services dealing with chronic disease and other specialized issues for older individuals; Medicaid plans, children's health insurance and health care programs; health and dental benefits; and hospital and clinical services.

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