Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Price

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price target cut by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $664.00 to $563.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 31.46% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $540.00 price objective (down previously from $635.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $660.00 to $580.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Hsbc Global Res raised UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $694.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $604.67.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 0.3 %

UNH stock opened at $428.25 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $391.73 billion, a PE ratio of 27.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $506.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $537.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. UnitedHealth Group has a fifty-two week low of $417.12 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,957 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,025,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its position in UnitedHealth Group by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the last quarter. Waycross Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 27,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $14,060,000 after buying an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 199,536 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $100,937,000 after buying an additional 11,426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC lifted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 37,974 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $19,210,000 after acquiring an additional 4,022 shares during the period. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.