UnitedHealth Group’s (UNH) Underperform Rating Reiterated at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird reiterated their underperform rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) in a research report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $198.00 target price on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock, down from their previous target price of $312.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen cut UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Baird R W downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and set a $270.00 price objective (down previously from $490.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $373.52.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

NYSE:UNH opened at $237.40 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $296.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $415.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. UnitedHealth Group has a 52-week low of $234.60 and a 52-week high of $630.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.36 billion, a PE ratio of 10.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.43.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.45 by ($0.37). The firm had revenue of $111.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 5.04%. The company’s revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.80 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

UnitedHealth Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $2.21 per share. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. This is a boost from UnitedHealth Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.10. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.30%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kristen Gil purchased 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $271.17 per share, for a total transaction of $1,003,329.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 3,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,327.06. This trade represents a 3,135.59% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn acquired 1,533 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director owned 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. This trade represents a 34.07% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 109,408 shares of company stock valued at $31,607,768. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 2,224 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its position in UnitedHealth Group by 28.6% during the first quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 90 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,135 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 430 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 3,642 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $1,907,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

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.