UnitedHealth Group’s (UNH) Hold Rating Reaffirmed at TD Securities

TD Securities reissued their hold rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $308.00 target price on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, down from their prior target price of $520.00.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $560.00 to $350.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $515.00 to $350.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Erste Group Bank downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $521.00 to $362.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $454.23.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Up 8.2%

NYSE:UNH opened at $315.80 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $467.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $511.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $286.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. UnitedHealth Group has a twelve month low of $248.88 and a twelve month high of $630.73.

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 the consensus estimate of $7.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.91 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $2.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $8.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. UnitedHealth Group’s payout ratio is 35.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Kristen Gil bought 3,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $271.17 per share, with a total value of $1,003,329.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,327.06. This represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John H. Noseworthy acquired 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $312.16 per share, for a total transaction of $93,648.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 6,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,892,626.08. The trade was a 5.21% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Waycross Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $515,000. Full Sail Capital LLC lifted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 37,974 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $19,210,000 after purchasing an additional 4,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,413,000. 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.