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

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its target price reduced by research analysts at Barclays to $350.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 18.40% from the company’s current price.

UNH has been the topic of several other research reports. TD Cowen lowered UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $308.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, May 19th. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $308.00 price objective (down previously from $520.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $600.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wolfe Research cut their price objective on UnitedHealth Group from $501.00 to $390.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $428.43.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of UnitedHealth Group stock traded down $4.77 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $295.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,410,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,935,905. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $418.00 and a 200-day moving average of $488.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $268.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a P/E/G 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $109.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $111.56 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.91 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In related news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,533 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John H. Noseworthy bought 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $312.16 per share, with a total value of $93,648.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,063 shares in the company, valued at $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 quarter, insiders acquired 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. NewSquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 87.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.