Barclays Raises UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) Price Target to $352.00

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Barclays from $337.00 to $352.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the healthcare conglomerate’s stock. Barclays‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 11.71% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also commented on UNH. Robert W. Baird reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $198.00 price target (down from $312.00) on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $342.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $306.00 to $267.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $354.86.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH stock opened at $315.10 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $285.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.65, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $288.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $374.41. UnitedHealth Group has a one year low of $234.60 and a one year high of $630.73. 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 (NYSE:UNH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.45 by ($0.37). The firm had revenue of $111.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.75 billion. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 5.04% and a return on equity of 23.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.80 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.000- EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, CEO Patrick Hugh Conway sold 589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $179,645.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 10,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,171,390. This trade represents a 5.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Citizens National Bank Trust Department boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department now owns 17,886 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $9,368,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 530,103 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $277,641,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares during the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 862 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in UnitedHealth Group during the 4th quarter worth $515,000. Finally, Full Sail Capital LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.