StockNews.com Lowers UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) to Buy

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jun 14th, 2023

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH – Get Rating) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on UnitedHealth Group from $595.00 to $562.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on UnitedHealth Group in a report on Thursday, April 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $591.00 target price for the company. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $605.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $610.00 price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Monday, April 17th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $630.00 target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group in a research report on Friday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $599.06.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Down 0.3 %

UnitedHealth Group stock opened at $491.33 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $457.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.47, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $492.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $495.85. UnitedHealth Group has a 12 month low of $449.70 and a 12 month high of $558.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 14th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.24 by $0.02. UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 27.05% and a net margin of 6.16%. The company had revenue of $91.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.49 earnings per share. UnitedHealth Group’s quarterly revenue was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group will post 24.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $484.58, for a total transaction of $488,456.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,019,764.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Andrew Witty sold 6,160 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $487.49, for a total value of $3,002,938.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86,564 shares in the company, valued at $42,199,084.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Erin Mcsweeney sold 1,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.58, for a total value of $488,456.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,359 shares in the company, valued at $5,019,764.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 8,852 shares of company stock valued at $4,313,962. 0.35% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of UnitedHealth Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in UnitedHealth Group by 100,076.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,823,820 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,268,753,000 after purchasing an additional 11,812,017 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group during the fourth quarter worth $5,210,004,000. Gateway Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 48,406.9% during the first quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 4,762,407 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $4,762,000 after acquiring an additional 4,752,589 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 264.2% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,511,174 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $732,934,000 after purchasing an additional 3,997,959 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 1,682.4% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,691,542 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,372,606,000 after acquiring an additional 2,540,538 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.31% of the company’s stock.

About UnitedHealth Group

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UnitedHealth Group, Inc engages in the provision of health care coverage, software, and data consultancy services. It operates through the following segments: UnitedHealthcare, OptumHealth, OptumInsight, and OptumRx. The UnitedHealthcare segment utilizes Optum’s capabilities to help coordinate patient care, improve affordability of medical care, analyze cost trends, manage pharmacy benefits, work with care providers more effectively, and create a simpler consumer experience.