UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $358.9545.

UNH has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $306.00 to $267.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $325.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $418.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE UNH opened at $353.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $319.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business has a 50-day moving average of $306.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $356.57. UnitedHealth Group has a 1 year low of $234.60 and a 1 year high of $630.73.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by ($0.37). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 23.32% and a net margin of 5.04%.The business had revenue of $111.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.80 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. UnitedHealth Group has set its FY 2025 guidance at 16.000- EPS. On average, analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UnitedHealth Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $2.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $8.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. UnitedHealth Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.30%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UnitedHealth Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,729,585 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $47,519,620,000 after purchasing an additional 5,583,343 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,847,940 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $13,537,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,486,839 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,312,182 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $6,624,411,000 after acquiring an additional 675,075 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,837,207,000. Finally, Dodge & Cox grew its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 117.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 8,750,560 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,729,912,000 after acquiring an additional 4,730,192 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.