UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Rating Lowered to Neutral at Robert W. Baird

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) was downgraded by investment analysts at Robert W. Baird from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $312.00 target price on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 0.44% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on UNH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $405.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 15th. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $270.00 target price (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $355.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $552.00 to $353.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $426.52.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE UNH traded down $5.11 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $313.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,729,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,185,784. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $391.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $476.22. The company has a market cap of $284.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.45. UnitedHealth Group has a 12 month low of $248.88 and a 12 month high of $630.73. 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 released 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 analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the business posted $6.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CFO John F. Rex bought 17,175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 203,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director John H. Noseworthy bought 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $312.16 per share, with a total value of $93,648.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,892,626.08. This trade represents a 5.21% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewSquare Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 685.7% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 55 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 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.