Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Stock Price

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its price target cut by equities researchers at Barclays from $513.00 to $362.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 24.30% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho lifted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com upgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. HSBC restated a “hold” rating and set a $490.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $660.00 to $580.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $486.00.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 6.2%

NYSE UNH opened at $291.24 on Thursday. UnitedHealth Group has a 12 month low of $248.88 and a 12 month high of $630.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $264.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.79, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $470.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $513.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its 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). UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Kristen Gil acquired 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,327.06. This represents a 3,135.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Waycross Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 27,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $14,060,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the period. Full Sail Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Full Sail Capital LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Lmcg Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,022 shares during the period. Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $39,413,000. Finally, Seilern Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $153,015,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

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.